Originally Posted by
macaron95
Will Emirates join OneWorld ?
No, Emirates will not join Oneworld.
Originally Posted by
macaron95
Qantas and EY will align their respective FFP
EY is Etihad. EY is a partner and investor in Virgin Australia, Qantas' most bitter rival.
EK is Emirates. Emirates and Qantas are integrating their FFPs.
What we are seeing is the beginning of a new era in airline co-operation. The current 3 alliances will likely be of lesser overall importance in the years to come.
Look at the events of the last few months. Qantas wants to drop its Joint Services Agreement with BA (which even pre-dates the existence of the Oneworld alliance) because it is in a battle for survival against a range of airlines, with Virgin Australia as their biggest threat. Virgin Australia, for their part, are unaligned, but are increasingly embedding themselves in a proto-alliance with Etihad, Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand - the latter two being Star Alliance members, even if they are not particularly motivated alliance players. Virgin Australia, meanwhile, has also proposed to take over Skywest and Tiger Airlines, another step in its battle to match Qantas in both domestic and international routes, and in both the economy and premium sectors. Meanwhile, one of Star's anchor tenants, Lufthansa, is now attempting to tie itself up with fellow Star member Turkish Airlines in an attempt to better compete with the main Gulf superconnectors, which Lufthansa detests with an almighty vengeance. Air France, which up until recently was almost as vehement in their excoriation of the Gulf airlines, has now performed an about-face and has signed a code-sharing deal with Etihad, with the promise of deeper co-operation to come. This will also see Air France collaborating with a rival from another alliance - Air Berlin - which will even further raise Lufthansa's ire. And just yesterday, Air New Zealand announced that, from next March, it will cease flying around the world, and is now busy re-booking its passengers on the axed LHR-HKG route on to its former rival, Cathay Pacific, a member of rival alliance oneworld, and with whom they have just announced a new codesharing and frequent flier collaboration.