Air Berlin set to join oneworld alliance

Air Berlin will become a full member of oneworld as of March 20, adding Europe’s sixth largest carrier to the global airline alliance. Austrian airline NIKI, also a member of the airberlin group, will join oneworld at the same time as an affiliate member. Air Berlin received its green light to board oneworld after successfully completing a thorough review of its readiness conducted by British Airways, which is sponsoring its entry into the alliance, with the oneworld central team. As of March 20, it will be offering oneworld’s full range of services — and substantially expand the alliance’s network in Germany and throughout South and Central Europe. It will add almost 70 destinations to the alliance’s map, extending oneworld’s global coverage to some 840 destinations in 150 countries, served by more than 9,000 departures a day operated by a combined fleet of some 2,500 aircraft, carrying nearly 300 million passengers a year, with annual revenues of almost US$100 billion. (http://www.airberlin.com)