To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Oneworld global airline alliance announced some major changes last week aimed at making flying easier and more seamless for its passengers. In addition to rebranding and launching a new website, the global alliance, which currently has 13 airlines, said that it will add new members to its roster, as well as launch a series of branded airport lounges. Here, find more details about what you can look forward to when flying with such Oneworld airlines as American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas.
More member airlines
When Royal Air Maroc joins Oneworld in 2020, it’ll be the first African airline in the alliance and the first new full member since SriLankan Airlines joined in 2014. But that’s not all. The alliance is also introducing a new membership platform for smaller, regional airlines called Oneworld Connect. By the end of March 2019, Fiji Airways will become the first Oneworld Connect partner, with talks progressing with airlines in the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific at the moment. Alaska Airlines is rumored to be the second airline to become a Oneworld Connect member.
Check in on multiple flights through one app
Starting this year, Oneworld is progressively rolling out the ability for travelers who are flying multiple Oneworld airlines on one trip to manage their travels through their preferred airline’s app or website. This means that you can check in, get your boarding passes, receive flight updates, track baggage, and pay for any additional services without having to download another app or enter any new login information—even if the first part of your trip is on American Airlines with a connection to a British Airways flight in London.
A Oneworld-branded airport lounge
In another move to make flying better for its passengers, Oneworld says it will unveil its first-ever branded, developed, and managed airport lounge later in 2019. It will also move more alliance airlines into the same terminals at “key airports”—for example, in São Paulo and Beijing—so Oneworld Sapphire and Emerald members can access the lounges of other member airlines while traveling. The exact location of the first branded alliance lounge hasn’t been announced yet; Oneworld CEO Rob Gurney hinted at at a recent press conference that three locations have already been short-listed at airports that serve multiple Oneworld airlines but have no lounge access for Oneworld passengers.
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