Kingfisher may become Oneworld member next year

Kingfisher Airlines (KFA), India’s second largest carrier in terms of market share, is likely to become a full member of the Oneworld Alliance by late 2011.

The Oneworld Alliance is one of the world’s three largest global airline alliances with its central management team based in Canada. The Bangalore-based carrier became a member-elect of Oneworld in June, after gaining approval from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and completing a formal membership agreement.

KFA, which has a market share of 20 per cent in the domestic space, will become one of the first Indian operators to be part of an international alliance. Air India is expected to be joining the Star Alliance by March next year.

British Airways’ CEO, Willie Walsh said, “British Airways is Kingfisher Airlines’ sponsor, mentoring and supporting it through its joining programme in its bid to become members of the Oneworld Alliance. We will continue to support them in every way possible, so that they can become full members by late 2011.” Walsh was speaking at the sidelines of a press conference announcing British Airways’ first codeshare agreement with an Indian carrier, Kingfisher, to be applicable from September 15. British Airways is one of the founding members of the Oneworld Alliance. There are currently 12 full members.

KFA’s executive vice-president, commercial, Manoj Chacko, said, “We are on track to become full members and the process is on. The codeshare between BA and Kingfisher is the first step towards strengthening our business. It is a partnership between two big and equal brands.”

The process of bringing on board a new member usually takes 18 to 24 months to complete. All the information technology systems of the new member have to be connected to those in the other Oneworld airlines, bringing its customer service, frequent flyer and distribution processes into line with the standards set by the alliance.

KFA’s addition to Oneworld will link its network with India’s extensive domestic network. It will bring 56 cities onto the Oneworld map and is likely to expand the net global coverage of the alliance to more than 800 destinations in 150 countries, served by a combined fleet of 2,350 aircraft operating around 9,000 flights a day.