Y. J. Foo 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2012 New blow for Kingfisher as Oneworld move put on hold By: Graham Dunn London 5 hours ago Struggling Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines' planned entry the Oneworld alliance has been put on hold to give it time to work on its troubled financial position. The Indian carrier's implementation into Oneworld had been planned for 10 February, but the alliance and airline have now agreed to put the move into Oneworld on hold. Oneworld chief executive Bruce Ashby said: "These are turbulent times for the airline industry in India and many other parts of the world. We have been working closely with Kingfisher Airlines over the past months and it has become increasingly clear recently that the airline needs more time to resolve the financial issues it is confronting before it can be welcomed into Oneworld. "Will work with Kingfisher Airlines with the aim of setting a new joining date once it is through this current period of turbulence," he added. Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya said: "In light of the many priorities centred around Kingfisher Airlines'; recapitalisation efforts, we felt it prudent to defer our entry into the alliance for a little while. This will allow us the opportunity to focus on the issues at hand and we look forward to being part of the Oneworld alliance very shortly." Kingfisher was to be Oneworld's first Indian member, but speculation over its entry into the alliance has increased in recent months as its financial concerns have deepened. The announcement marks a double blow for Oneworld today, coming on the same day as its Hungarian member airline Malev was forced to cease flights. It comes just a day after Oneworld confirmed Air Berlin would formally join the alliance on 20 March. It means a longer wait for the first Indian carrier to join a global alliance. Six months after Air India's long-planned entry into Star Alliance was suspended after it failing to meet the agreed minimum membership conditions. Flightglobal Not a good start of the year for OW... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Josh T 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2012 Well, OW will get Air Berlin and MAS this year at least. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KC Sim 2 Report post Posted February 4, 2012 Sadly, it is the second Indian airline to fail to gain entry into an alliance ... Air India being the other. Even without any Indian airline joining any alliance, the Indian market is amply served by airlines of the three most important alliances, and any deferrment will only serve to weaken the local airlines. Surely this is time for Kingfisher Airlines to reflect on a lot more than joining the alliance ... its choice of aircraft purchases, quality of its inflight service and amenities, it flight schedule and route network etc. Aircraft purchases : Surely it is time for them to climb down from their lofty dreams and drop the order for A380s. And I wonder if it still has unsold A340-500s parked away in France and probably chalking up parking and other charges. Inflight service and amenities : I wonder if it has improved on both ... when I flew with it almost two years ago, I found both wanting, especially inflight service. Flight schedule : Sending two A330-200s to HKG and parking them there the entire day plus one more (sometimes A332 but often now an A320) cannot be great for utilisation rate of the aircraft. Route network : How is it every Indian carrier that could fly international zoom in on the same destinations??? When is enough ... enough and someone goes in search of routes with less competition and duplication. And perhaps Mr Mallya should stop wasting money on sponsorship of aan F1 Grand Prix team and instead concentrate on his airline ... or even better, his brewery business. KC Sim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
