Qatar Airways to Join oneworld October 30

Qatar Airways will become a full member of oneworld starting Oct. 30. Qatar’s implementation of the oneworld program comes just one year after the airline received its invitation to join. This will make its induction into oneworld one of the fastest in the alliance’s history. Normally it takes around 18 months for an airline to enter any alliance.

Voted by readers of Business Traveler magazine as the Best Airline for International Travel and the Best Business Class to the Middle East in the 2012 Best in Business Travel Awards, Qatar Airways is the only one of the “Gulf Big Three” carriers slated to join any of the global airline alliances. The carrier received the go-ahead to join the alliance after successfully completing a thorough review of its readiness, conducted by British Airways, which is sponsoring Qatar Airways’ entry into the alliance, with oneworld’s central team.

“In Qatar Airways’ relatively short history, we have quickly established a reputation for innovation, quality and excellence in everything we do,” said Qatar Airways chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker. “We are pleased to build on that by becoming the only major airline from the Gulf to date to be joining any of the global airline alliances. We are proud to entering the best of them, in oneworld – and to be doing so in record quick time.”

The move adds more than 20 destinations and five countries – Ethiopia, Iran, Rwanda, Serbia and Tanzania – to the oneworld map. In addition, Qatar Airways will offer routing alternatives across many hundreds of city pairs. For example, passengers flying between Asia and Southern Europe or between Asia and Africa will now have one-stop connections not previously available within the oneworld network.

For details visit qatarairways.com