Kingfisher Airlines Monday became a member-elect of the global airline partnership -- 'oneworld'
alliance, with the premier carrier also announcing it had entered into a codeshare agreement with British Airways to give a boost to passenger carriage between India and the UK.
A formal agreement was signed by liquor baron and Kingfisher chief Vijay Mallya and the top officers of all the 12 'oneworld' partner airlines, after a team of the global alliance visited Delhi and Mumbai, completed a safety audit
and set in motion the process through which the Indian carrier would become full-fledged member of the global partnership.
It would take at least another 18 months for
Kingfisher to become a full-fledged member of the alliance, after it integrates its IT system, distribution process and frequent flyer programmes with other partner airlines.
Air India and Jet Airways are already proceeding towards becoming full-fledged members of the Star Alliance, which is the rival alliance of 'oneworld'.
Announcing that Kingfisher signed the contract
recently to become the member elect, oneworld Chairman and American Airlines Chief Gerqard Arpey said the development was showed that the alliance was that of "the finest collection of
airlines brands delivering the highest levels of service to the markets" across the world.
Kingfisher was represented at the ceremony here by Senior Vice President Manoj Chacko, who said his airline, which currently serves 70 destinations, would now be able to connect to 800 cities across the world as a partner of the
'oneworld' alliance.
Chacko said the process of joining the 'oneworld' was facilitated by regulatory approvals granted by the Civil Aviation Ministry some weeks ago.
"We have got all the required approvals from the Government of India".
Replying to questions, he said Kingfisher has had "pretty aggressive domestic growth plans in India. We will continue with those plans in future too".