As it has just finished celebrating its 25th anniversary at the IATA Annual General Meeting in Dubai, oneworld will soon welcome two new full-fledged members: Fiji Airways and Oman Air.
Previously a oneworld Connect partner, Fiji Airways will be transitioned into a full-fledged member, while Oman Air will fully participate in the alliance in a few months.
The two carriers add further coverage to the alliance, especially in the South Pacific and Middle East regions.
oneworld Welcomes Fiji Airways and Oman Air as Full Members
At the IATA Annual General Meeting in Dubai, oneworld has announced developments with what will become its two newest members: Fiji Airways and Oman Air.
Fiji Airways will soon be a full-fledged member, with its transition starting immediately and completed within 12 months.
The flag carrier of Fiji and the South Pacific has been a oneworld Connect partner for five years, and has forged cooperation with all members of the alliance.
With its transition to full membership, Fiji Airways will soon provide oneworld elite members with a full suite of benefits, including earning and redeeming miles, earning status points, and priority check-in, as well as priority boarding and lounge access.
Reciprocally, elite members of Fiji Airways’s Tabua Club will receive the same benefits across oneworld members.
Furthermore, Oman Air will be fully integrated as a oneworld member by the end of 2024. This development comes some two years after it was initially announced that the flag carrier of the Sultanate of Oman will be joining the alliance.
As with Fiji Airways, elite members of oneworld can expect the range of benefits they receive from other alliance members when flying with Oman Air.
What This Means for oneworld
With the induction of Fiji Airways and Oman Air into oneworld, the alliance will boost its membership to 15 airlines – triple the number at its inception in 1999.
Crucially, Fiji Airways and Oman Air open new destinations, routes, and hubs for the alliance.
Fiji Airways is the only oneworld partner flying to a number of Pacific destinations, such as Kirimati (formerly Christmas Island) in Kiribati and Port Vila in Vanuatu.
In addition, Fiji Airways offers transpacific crossings between Nadi and San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Vancouver.
As things stand, several oneworld members already codeshare with Fiji Airways on its routes out of Nadi. These include Qantas, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, and Japan Airlines, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
In the future, we can expect Fiji to cement itself as a strategic oneworld hub in the South Pacific, serving as a bridge between North America and Oceania.
Fiji Airways’s Nadi hub would also be a great supplement to Qantas’s hubs in the region, including Sydney and Melbourne.
Likewise, Oman Air will add more options in Europe and Asia, especially in the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent.
There’s plenty of overlap between the routes and destinations of Oman Air and its much-larger alliance partner Qatar Airways. With the two carriers soon playing on the same team, Oman Air will henceforth supplement the flight frequencies being offered by Qatar Airways out of the Middle East.
Presently, Qatar Airways codeshares on several Oman Air routes, including Zanzibar, Kuala Lumpur, and Karachi, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
In the future, we can expect Muscat to be propped up as the second Middle East hub for oneworld, gaining the alliance a stronger foothold in the crucial region.
What This Means for oneworld Loyalty Program Members
Aside from elite status recognition, members of oneworld loyalty programs will benefit from new redemption opportunities.
Fiji Airways offers transpacific flights to Nadi, with connections to Auckland and Australia. These connections are already bookable through some oneworld programs, such as Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and we can expect these flights to be rolled out to more programs in the future.
Meanwhile, Oman Air will likely be redeemable through major oneworld loyalty programs; however, it’s not yet clear what the future holds for its partnership with Aeroplan.
Oman Air’s First Class and business class products are a great way to fly between Europe and Asia, offering an alternative to Qatar Airways, whose redemption availability can be difficult to come by.
Conclusion
As it celebrates its 25th anniversary at the IATA Annual General Meeting, oneworld has announced the imminent addition of Fiji Airways and Oman Air as full-fledged members.
Fiji Airways will be transitioned from a oneworld Connect partner to a full member within 12 months, while Oman Air’s participation will start fully by the end of 2024.
Fiji Airways and Oman Air will grow the 4.5 million flights being operated by oneworld members annually and will offer more options to travellers out of its respective hubs in Nadi and Muscat.
Stay tuned for more updates, especially with regards to award redemption on both airlines, as they fully integrate into the alliance.
