Kingfisher Airlines set to join oneworld alliance

Kingfisher Airlines is set to join oneworld after recently signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) 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 Vijay Mallya, Chairman, Kingfisher Airlines and Chief Executives from oneworld’s 11 existing member airlines. Kingfisher Airlines has applied to India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) for authority to proceed with its membership of oneworld.

British Airways (BA) will support Kingfisher Airlines through its alliance implementation programme, as its oneworld sponsor. 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, hence Kingfisher Airlines could be expected to start flying as part of oneworld during 2011.

As per the company release, Kingfisher Airlines’ addition to oneworld will link India’s most extensive domestic network with oneworld’s unrivalled global network, as the only alliance with airlines based on every continent.