Kingfisher to join Oneworld
India’s Kingfisher Airlines, is lining up to join Oneworld after signing a memorandum of understanding as its first step towards full membership of the world’s leading quality airline alliance, subject to Indian regulatory approval.
The agreement was concluded at a meeting between Kingfisher Airlines’ chairman Vijay Mallya and chief executives from Oneworld’s 11 existing member airlines.
The airline has now applied to India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation for authority to proceed with its membership of Oneworld.
A target date for Kingfisher Airlines to join the alliance will be confirmed once this approval is gained. The process to bring any airline on board normally takes around 18 months to complete, so Kingfisher Airlines could be expected to start flying as part of Oneworld during 2011.
Wataniya announces improved schedule
Wataniya Airways announced its new summer flight schedule as it welcomes its fifth aircraft to the fleet.
The new schedule includes improved timings to Jeddah, which will be served on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with departure times from Kuwait at 1.45pm and Jeddah at 4.55pm. Twice daily flights to Cairo now depart at 11.50am and 6.05pm which all started from March 28 along with a new route to Istanbul, Turkey.
In June the Beirut service will increase to three flights daily and there are additional flights to Amman, Jordan and Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt as well.
Etihad launches first Pakistan codeshare
Etihad Airways has announced its first codeshare operation out of Pakistan with American Airlines.
The new agreement will offer customers in Pakistan easy and convenient connections between Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore and key destinations in the US, including Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Miami and Houston. The expansion follows the original codeshare agreement made between Etihad Airways and American Airlines in September 2009.
Passengers transferring between the two carriers will be able to purchase a single ticket for their journey and enjoy the convenience of being able to check in luggage through to their final destination.
ADAC welcomes first new carrier of 2010
Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) announced the arrival of Ariana Afghan Airlines, the national carrier of Afghanistan, to Al Ain International Airport with a weekly return service, from Kabul to Al Ain, now operating on Fridays offering both business and economy-class products.
The airline is ADAC’s first new airline partner of the year.
Singapore new cabin offerings
Singapore Airlines’ has introduced daily Airbus A330-300 aircraft from Abu Dhabi to Singapore featuring the airline’s latest product and service offerings.
The airline has also commenced A330-300 services from Singapore to Jeddah and Kuwait, both via Abu Dhabi, as well as to Male.
From April 28, A330-300s will be deployed to Fukuoka and Taipei, and from May 1 the aircraft will also serve Colombo.
The services will replace the airline’s Boeing 777 operations on these routes.
The Singapore Airlines A330-300 is configured in a two-class layout with 30 business and 255 economy seats.
The business cabin is laid out in a two-two-two configuration featuring a new seat specially designed for regional and medium-haul routes. The seat converts to an incline lie-flat bed.
The economy cabin is laid out in a two-four-two configuration. Featured are the new-generation economy-class seats. They are ergonomically designed to provide an unsurpassed level of comfort. All seats feature the new award-winning inflight entertainment system and, in a world first, iPod and iPhone connectivity in every seat.