Global Traveler Honor Gives oneworld Best Alliance Award Hat Trick

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- oneworld® has been named Best Airline Alliance by Global Traveler in the leading business travel magazine's GT Tested Reader Survey 2010 Awards, announced today.

It means that oneworld holds three of the four top "best airline alliance" awards presented in 2010, after receiving the World's Leading Airline Alliance title for the eighth year running in the 2010 World Travel Awards last month and the World's Best Airline Alliance honor in Skytrax's 2010 World Airline Awards in May.

oneworld is also the holder of both "best alliance for wines" awards given in the airline industry, taking top place in both Global Traveler's Wines on the Wing awards and Business Traveler's Cellars in the Sky.

oneworld's individual member airlines flew high in all these awards – and also in Global Traveler's GT Tested survey.

Cathay Pacific took top honors as Best Airline for First Class, with British Airways awarded Best Airline for Business Class.  Qantas was named Best Airline to Australia and New Zealand while American Airlines took the trophy for Best Domestic First Class.

Of the Best Airline Alliance award, Global Traveler Publisher and CEO Francis X Gallagher said: "Congratulations to the oneworld alliance on this wonderful win.  The award is a testament to the service, products and superiority of the oneworld alliance and its member airlines. Our readers know the best when they see it, and clearly, oneworld is a cut above the rest."

oneworld Managing Partner John McCulloch said: "oneworld has always aimed to be the world's premier alliance, so we are thrilled to be judged the best by the people who really count – customers – in this prestigious survey of international air travelers in this landmark year for oneworld.  We'll be working hard to retain this coveted title in the future."

Its Best Airline Alliance award crowns a momentous year for oneworld, which has seen:

• The addition of S7 Airlines, Russia's leading domestic carrier, last month.
• The signing of India's leading carrier Kingfisher Airlines and Europe's fifth biggest airline, airberlin, as members elect.
• The launch of a trans-Atlantic joint business between American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia after gaining long-awaited anti-trust immunity in both the U.S. and Europe.
• Approval from authorities in both the U.S. and Japan for a joint business between American Airlines and Japan Airlines (JAL) covering their services between North America and Asia, following JAL's reaffirmation of its oneworld membership earlier this year and its deepening cooperation with its oneworld partners.

Global Traveler conducted a survey of its readers from Jan. 1, 2010, to Aug. 31, 2010, with open-ended questions for the best in many categories of business and luxury travel.  The survey was conducted in the magazine, as an insert to subscriber copies, as a direct mail questionnaire, online and e-mailed during the period in question. Only those questionnaires with more than 50 per cent of the questions completed were counted.  The 2010 survey generated results from more than 35,000 completed questionnaires.  Responses from employees of the magazine or individuals associated with the travel industry were not accepted.  It is the seventh year running that Global Traveler has conducted its GT Tested Survey.

About oneworld

oneworld brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malev Hungarian Airlines, Mexicana, Qantas and Royal Jordanian, and around 20 affiliates including American Eagle, Dragonair, LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador and LAN Peru.  Russia's S7 Airlines will join the alliance on 15 November 2010 with airberlin and India's Kingfisher Airlines both member elects.  Between them, these airlines:

• Serve almost 900 airports in nearly 150 countries, with some 9,500 daily departures.
• Offer more than 550 airport lounges for premium customers.
• Carry 340 million passengers a year.
• Operate a combined fleet of almost 2,500 aircraft.
• Generate around US$90 billion annual revenues in total.

oneworld enables its members to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own.  These include a broader route network, opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles and points across the combined oneworld network and more airport lounges.   oneworld also offers more alliance fares than any of its competitors.  

SOURCE oneworld