S7 Airlines and Globus join oneworld

S7 Airlines became (15-Nov-2010) part of oneworld on 15-Nov-2010 with subsidiary Globus also joining at the same time as an affiliate member of oneworld. Details include:

• Existing oneworld members: American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN Airlines, Malev Hungarian Airlines, Mexicana, Qantas and Royal Jordanian and almost 20 affiliated airlines.
• S7 and Globus: Serve 90 destinations and 28 countries. They add 55 destinations in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States to the oneworld schedule, plus nine countries, in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. This has almost tripled the number of destinations served by oneworld in Russia, the CIS and other parts of East Europe to a total 84 destinations in 26 countries;
• Expanding alliance coverage: The inclusion of S7 Airlines and Globus expands oneworld's global coverage to a total of more than 750 destinations in almost 150 countries, served by 8500 departures a day operated by a combined fleet of some 2250 aircraft, carrying 300 million passengers a year, with annual revenues of more than USD85 billion. When oneworld member designates airberlin, Europe's fifth largest airline, and Kingfisher Airlines, join in the coming 18 months, that will grow further to some 900 destinations, served by 9500 daily departures operated by 14 airlines and 20 affiliates, carrying 340 million passengers a year on a combined fleet of 2500 aircraft, generating annual revenues of USD90 billion;
• FFP: Members of the S7 Priority frequent flyer programme will be included in the oneworld member airline programme with alliance worldwide lounge access also available;
• Alliance fares: S7's network is now covered by oneworld's range of alliance fares and sales products, including oneworld Explorer;
• Russian market: The Russian domestic market is the world's largest country in terms of land mass, the ninth most populous and with the eighth largest GDP. It is predicted to be one of the world's fastest growing regions for air travel demand. Currently seven of oneworld's established airlines - British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malev Hungarian Airlines and Royal Jordanian - serve Moscow, plus St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg in Russia.
• Sponsor carrier: British Airways has been supporting S7 through its 18-month alliance implementation project, as its oneworld sponsor airline;
• IT systems: S7's IT systems have now been linked to those of oneworld's established members and various internal processes and procedures brought into line with the alliance's requirements. A employee training and communications programme has been completed. [more]

S7 Group: "Today represents the start of a new and exciting era for S7, as we take one of the most significant steps in our airline's history. It is a real honor to be part of what is very clearly the world's pre-eminent global airline alliance, flying alongside some of the most distinguished names in our industry. We move S7 into the next phase of its development as part of the highest quality grouping of airlines. oneworld gives S7 the best quality partners, the best worldwide network, the best alliance services for our customers and the best opportunity to put our airline firmly on the global stage. Getting to this position has required a great deal of hard work, and I would like to take this opportunity to give my personal thanks to everyone who has been involved in this project - at S7, at our oneworld sponsor British Airways, at the central oneworld team and at all of our partner airlines," Vladislav Filev, CEO. Source: Company Statement, 15-Nov-2010.