ONEWORLD GIVES MAS BIG LIFT
Alliance drives revenue and passenger traffic for national carrier, says Gurney
MALAYSIA Airlines Bhd’s (MAS) strategic alliance with oneworld has proven to be a boon to the national carrier.
Malaysia Airlines can reap incremental passenger traffic globally, leveraging the alliance’s network of 1,100 destinations (airports).
oneworld chief executive officer Rob Gurney said Malaysia Airlines benefited from the alliance’s 8.1 million customers.
“Our members can have a share of US$5 billion (RM20.5 billion) worth of interline connecting revenue annually,” he told New Straits Times in an interview recently.
Gurney said the revenue-sharing was vital for Malaysia Airlines financially.
“Malaysia Airlines is able to expand its network through this alliance,
which is the biggest incremental benefit for the airline. The alliance also drives a lot of revenue and passenger traffic for the carrier.”
Gurney said Malaysia Airlines was a highly valuable member of oneworld as it provided a good network, particularly in Southeast Asia.
“Every member airline strives for constant improvement to provide better customer experience.
“Obviously, Malaysia Airlines has embarked on a transformation programme to improve its products and services as well as customer experience.
“I believe Malaysia Airlines will continue to improve what they do, which will, in turn, pass the benefits back to our oneworld customers.”
With more than 400,000 employees globally, oneworld provides a massive extension beyond the airlines’ networks, primarily for business travellers.
“We offer access to thousands of destinations with more than 600 lounges globally. We need to have multiple airlines so that customers can have access to multiple flights and destinations.”
oneworld was launched on February 1 1999 by American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas.
Finland’s Finnair, Spanish carrier Iberia, Latam Airlines Group, Japan Airlines, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Qatar Airways joined the group later.
With 14,000 daily departures, oneworld members carry almost 550 million passengers a year in a combined fleet of 3,500 aircraft, generating US$135 billion in annual revenue.