The East is at it again, but this time it’s not by an evil dictator, instead it’s the younger, uglier, smaller step sister…the 2nd largest German carrier after German’s Giant Lufthansa!
AirBerlin is FINALLY joining the OneWorld Alliance and has a entrance date set for March 20, 2012. AirBerlin has already set up code share agreements with many of the OneWorld partners, including British Airways, Finnair, American Airlines, S7, etc.
This is GOOD News for the OneWorld Alliance for air Berlin brings 70 new destinations to the alliance! Now yes 23 of Air Berlin’s destinations are in Germany, so as you can imagine a lot of these new destinations are in central Europe. Nonetheless, more options = more flights which = more places to spend and earn our award miles! Not to mention this gives One World a fighting chance in Central Europe against Europe-heavy Star Alliance!
On a final note, this is extremely good news for One World, because One World has been a struggling alliance in recent years. JAL has recently gone through bankruptcy and cut routes, AA is currently in Chapter 11 and is cutting route (and may be taken over according to speculation by either US airways or Delta) and MALV is struggling to make ends meet! Kingfisher, who is suppose to join OneWorld, is also having a tough time making payments and have had to ground flights due to inability to pay for fuel.
Ouch OneWorld….Hopefully this Carrier can shed some much needed good light on you!
