oneworld achieves record revenues in record year of growth

• Fares and sales activity bring in US$725million

• Interline revenues up 20 per cent

• Airline grouping with best collective financial record again

Airlines in oneworld^® generated record revenues from the alliance's sales activities in 2007 - when the grouping completed its biggest expansion yet. 

Eight million passengers transferred between the airlines' flights during the year - 6 per cent more than in 2006 - producing interline revenues within the alliance of US$2.2 billion, up 19 per cent year-on-year.

Revenues generated by oneworld fares and sales activity totaled more than US$725 million, a 10 per cent increase.

A key driver behind these rises was the alliance's biggest membership expansion since its launch in 1999, with Japan Airlines, Malév Hungarian Airlines and Royal Jordanian joining on 01 April 2007 as full members, with LAN Argentina and LAN Ecuador as affiliates, followed six months later by China's Dragonair.

So 2007's revenues include nine months of contributions from most of the new recruits, and three months from Dragonair.  Even without this, the alliance's established members would have enjoyed healthy growth in their revenues from oneworld.

Alliance sales to the corporate sector were particularly strong in 2007, with revenues from businessflyer, the alliance's product for small and medium sized accounts in key target markets, up by a fifth on 2006.  More than 7.000 corporate customers are now signed up in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, with the product extended last year to Italy too.

Yields from oneworld sales overall also remained solid, with more than two-thirds of revenues generated by the alliance's fares coming from tickets sold for travel in premium cabins.

The alliance also maintained its focus on supporting their efforts to reduce costs.  Savings from its joint procurement activities now total more than US$300 million, with the bulk of 2007's benefits coming from initiatives in the Engineering and Maintenance arena.

These efforts helped oneworld maintain its position as the airline grouping with the best financial track record.  Based on latest full year results from members of all three alliances, oneworld members averaged an operating margin of 6,4 per cent - against 5,8 for Star and 5,6 for SkyTeam. 

Over the past three years, the combined net profits of oneworld member airlines have totalled US$8.8 billion, while SkyTeam members have lost US$6.9 billion between them and Star's partners have reported collective losses of US$10.1 billion.  

oneworld also continued its award-winning ways, voted the World's Leading Airline Alliance for the fifth year running in the 2007 World Travel Awards, based on votes cast by some 170.000 travel professionals, including more than 110.000 travel agents in 200 countries.

oneworld Managing Partner John McCulloch said: "In a business where operating margins are thin at best - let alone at a time of soaraway fuel prices - revenues and cost savings from oneworld make an increasingly important input to our member airlines' financial standings, and we are committed to increasing the contribution the alliance makes.

"Besides our record membership expansion, our record revenues in the past year also reflect the quality of service oneworld and its member airlines provide, our unparalleled international route network and our unmatched range of alliance fares and sales products."

About oneworld

oneworld brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Qantas and Royal Jordanian, plus some 20 affiliates, including American Eagle, South Africa's Comair, Dragonair, LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador and LAN Peru.  Mexicana will join in 2009, with its subsidiary Click Mexicana as an affiliate.

Between them, these airlines:

• Serve almost 700 airports in nearly 150 countries, with more than 9.000 daily departures.
• Offer nearly 550 airport lounges for premium customers.
• Carry some 320 million passengers a year.
• Employ 250.000 people.
• Operate almost 2.500 aircraft.
• Generate more than US$100 billion annual revenues.

oneworld -  the only alliance with any member airlines based in South America, the Middle East or Australia - enables its members to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own.  These include a broader route network, opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles and points across the combined oneworld network and more airport lounges.  oneworld is the only alliance to enable passengers to fly throughout its network, on any combination of carriers, using just electronic tickets.