oneworld: The leading alliance for Latin America

oneworld™, the leading international airline alliance the world over – including Latin America – today underlined its commitment to the region.

Speaking at the continent's leading travel show, FIT, in Buenos Aires, Marcelo Silistria, its Sales Manager for South America, said: "oneworld's aim is to be the winning alliance for our customers the world over, including Latin Americans. Our member airlines include the leading carriers operating to, from and within this part of the world, with reputations for quality second to none.

"We offer more fare products than all our competitors put together – great value and great flexibility. Whether you are in Buenos Aires or Bogota, Bangkok, Brussels, Boston or Brisbane, oneworld is the alliance that revolves around you – and it's going to stay that way, promising you quality and value wherever and whenever you want to travel."

On a global basis, the alliance serves more countries than any other global groupings, with airline members whose reputations for quality service is collectively second to none. oneworld was recently named the world's Best Airline Alliance in what is believed to be the first major award recognising this sector of the travel industry, the 2002 Business Traveller Awards, based on the findings of its annual poll of its readers, who include some of the world's most frequent flyers.

Four oneworld airlines offer serves to, from and within Latin America:
 

• American Airlines, now Latin America's premier airline, offering more flights to more destinations in the region than any other carrier. Today, the world's biggest airline flies to 34 destinations in 18 countries across the region. Miami is its main gateway to this part of the world, but it also serves points across this continent from New York JFK, Dallas/Fort Worth and San Juan, Puerto Rico. In South America, AA flies to Buenos Aires, Asuncion, Belo Horizonte, Bogota, Cali, Caracas, Guayaquil, La Paz, Lima, Maracaibo, Medellin, Montevideo, Quito, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Cruz, Sao Paulo and Santiago. AA has just celebrated its 75th anniversary by completing its "More Room Throughout Coach" programme, removing a total of almost 9,000 seats from its Economy cabins, to give inches more space than most of its competitors, creating a total of almost a mile of additional legroom with every Economy passenger benefiting.
   
• LanChile, which has won countless industry awards as testimony to its standing as the region's top quality carrier. With its various partners, LanChile serves 40 destinations in Latin America – including 15 in its home country Chile, and eight in Peru, base of its subsidiary LanPeru. Later this year, another affiliate, LanEcuador, will launch operations in Ecuador. It also serves points in North America and Europe and recently launched services between Santiago and Sydney in Australia, via Auckland in New Zealand, with connections from many South American cities including Buenos Aires. Throughout its network, LanChile serves almost 50 cities in approaching 20 countries. Its 60 aircraft operate more than 200 departures a day, carrying five million passengers last year.
   
• Iberia, the leading European carrier to Latin America, offers more destinations in and more non-stop flights to the region than any other European airline, serving 21 cities in 17 countries across the continent with 300 flights a week. The Spanish airline, privatized a year ago, has invested heavily in establishing its home base Madrid as the leading gateway between Europe and Latin America, with millions of dollars spent on improved facilities for travellers there. From Madrid, or its hub at Miami, destinations it serves in the region include Buenos Aires, Bogota, Caracas, Guayaquil, Havana, Lima, Meixco City, Puerto Rico, Quito, Rio de Janiero, Santiago, Santo Domingo and Sao Paulo. The Spanish flagcarrier offers almost a thousand departures a day to almost a hundred cities in 40 countries, with main hubs in Madrid, Barcelona and Miami. With one of the most modern fleets of any European airline, currently numbering almost 150 aircraft, it carried 25 million passengers last year.
   
• British Airways, the leading international airline, serves five cities in four South American countries – Buenos Aires, Bogota, Caracas, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Worldwide, with its affiliates, it serves almost 220 airports in more than 90 territories, with its main hub London Heathrow, the world's most popular international airport. Tracing its origins back to 1919, it was the first airline to offer passenger jet flight and supersonic services. It is one of only two airlines in the world operating Concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. Overall, it has more than 350 aircraft in its fleet, carrying 40 million people last year. The airline is currently in the midst of a £600 million programme of customer service improvements, including the roll-out of its award-winning new flat beds in its Club World longhaul business class, enhancements to its First class, which already offered fully flat beds, and the launch a new premium economy cabin, World Traveller Plus.
  
  A number of South American destinations are also served by flights carrying the QF code of Qantas, the Number One carrier in Australia and the South Pacific, through its new code-sharing agreement with LanChile. These provide excellent connections to Qantas' unparalleled network in its home country. Through its membership, oneworld is the only global alliance with a full network in Australia.
  
  Completing the oneworld alliance are:
• Cathay Pacific Airways, one of the most highly regarded Asian airlines
• Finnair, the major airline in Northern Europe and generally regarded as the industry's IT leader
• Aer Lingus, the cream of Irish carriers.
  
  Together, oneworld's eight members serve more countries than any other alliance, with flights to some 550 destinations in 135 countries. They are committed to working together to make global travel smoother, easier, better value and more rewarding than any individual airline can by itself, including opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer awards across the entire alliance network, and access to more than 350 lounges worldwide for the most frequent flyers.
  
  oneworld offers more fare products, serving more markets, than all the other airline alliances put together. For travellers to this region, it is the only global alliance offering a multi-sector, multi-airline air pass, oneworld Visit South America, offering unlimited flights on any oneworld carrier operating in the region.
  
  From Latin America, it offers:
• oneworld Explorer, one of the most popular, simple, flexible and best value round-the-world fares available in the market. Prices are based on class of travel (Economy, Business, First or even Concorde) and, uniquely, the number of continents visited – rather than mileage of the overall trip. This keeps journey planning as simple and flexible as possible, providing excellent value. Flights can be on any of the eight oneworld carriers, covering more than 550 destinations on a combined network serving more countries than any rival alliance. oneworld Explorer is the obvious choice for anyone planning a global journey including sectors "Downunder" with oneworld's Qantas the only member of a global alliance operating a full domestic network within Australia.
• Visit Passes: Offering multi-sector flights on any oneworld carrier in North America, Europe, and, uniquely, Asia, Africa or Australia/New Zealand. They offer a great value way to travel around a region. Prices are based on the number of sectors selected and their length.
• Circle 太平洋: An Explorer variant, for trips around the Pacific Ocean, covering Australia/NZ, Asia and North and South America.
  
  Apart from supporting the Latin American economy with vital air services, oneworld carriers are big employers in the area, too, with some 16,000 staff in the region.
  
  ends