Qatar Airways is waiting for ‘oneworld’ to resolve its issues with the global airline alliance, said group chief executive HE Akbar al-Baker.
“I am giving them time to resolve our issues. If nothing happens, we have to find our way,” al-Baker told Gulf Times in Doha yesterday.
Besides Qatar Airways, the oneworld members include American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LATAM Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines, SriLankan Airlines and around 30 affiliates.
Royal Air Maroc is a oneworld member-elect. Fiji Airways recently joined the alliance as the first oneworld connect partner.
Al-Baker said, “There is a charter of the alliance… they should follow it. It seems they don’t need the alliance because everybody is doing their own thing. Then what is the point of the alliance?”
“In the alliance, the big guys are bullying the smaller ones. We will not allow that,” al-Baker emphasised.
The Qatar Airways chief said, “As per freight tonne kilometres (FTK) we are the largest cargo carrier in the world. And as per the available seat kilometres (ASK), we are the second largest after American Airlines in oneworld. We are bigger than British Airways.
“We are contributing to the size of the alliance. If we pull out, they (oneworld) as an alliance will not be very big, ASK-wise.”
Asked whether Qatar Airways would consider another alliance should it decide to opt out of oneworld, the group chief executive said, “We will just depend on the airlines in which we partner, so that we work together. We have airlines spread where we have a stake, in four continents. The only places we don’t have are Africa and North America. Rest everywhere, we have an investment.”
As part of oneworld, its member airlines serve more than 1,000 airports in 160-plus territories, with some 14,000 daily departures.
The alliance members carry almost 550mn passengers a year on a combined fleet of 3,500 aircraft.
Oneworld alliance said it currently generates some $135bn in annual revenues.
Business / Business
Qatar Airways waiting for ‘oneworld’ to resolve issues within alliance
A Qatar Airways plane lands at the Hamad International Airport. Qatar’s national carrier is one of t
