OW new member?? Royal Air Maroc? TP Runs
 

Rumour is Royal Air Maroc may join Oneworld, while I'm not going to speculate on if it is or not, I have done some quick looking into what that could mean for those of us collecting TP.

Disclaimer: This is based off gc distances, and is my personal estimates of TP based off that.
Royal Air Maroc from what I can see have some 787s which they seem to be using for North American routes (and Istanbul on at least some days), 767 with angleflat business for Brazil, and most everything else is on 737.
A quick search will show you about £1700 on a good day for London NY, but the connections look pretty awful.
Also Stockholm NY for similar (and 2x140TP) - handy if you're based there, but I wouldnt go out of my way there for that price, and 5+hrs in regular seat on 737
If they are joining it would be for their African route, and this opens up more points earning possibilities - always a good thing.
I'll be watching to see who the new member is, and if its RAM I'll keep an eye out for their sales / and new ways to spend avios.

Route Miles
80 TP?
LHR-CMN 1301
MAN-CMN 1405

140 TP?
NDJ-CMN 2044
IST-CMN 2060
ARN-CMN 2156
SSG-CMN 2292
CAI-CMN 2293
DLA-CMN 2308
NSI-CMN 2384
BEY-CMN 2466
LBV-CMN 2518
BGF-CMN 2608
DME-CMN 2648
PNR-CMN 2919
JED-CMN 2954
BZV-CMN 2988
FIH-CMN 3002
LAD-CMN 3210
RUH-CMN 3296
YUL-CMN 3534
JFK-CMN 3609
NBO-CMN 3752
IAD-CMN 3830
MIA-CMN 4321
GIG-CMN 4522
GRU-CMN 4671

Given this is pure speculation based on rumours, there is hardly any point in having a "what if" thread like this, is there?

We have no idea yet. It could be EI finally joining to join the TATL JV. Just have to wait a week.

The forum should instead focus on important things such as the viscosity of the hollandaise in the CCR (the OP is classic BAFT, enjoy!)

Oddly just received details of a 'flash sale' on them to Miami (£470 in Y, £2,150 in J) which they are promoting. It's not as much of a detour as I thought (14h00 on way out inc. connection vs 10h00 non stop) but does go from LGW and back to LHR (for good connections).

Just thought it odd anyway, but Casablanca is probably a preferable transit airport to many US hubs.

Why not? Back in 2016 BA announced that would launch a new a new Club World seat in July 2019. That particular "What if" thread is currently 48 pages. oneworld has announced a new full member joining, I would be quite interested to discuss the potential airlines and the opportunities they would bring.

Okay, let's discuss a rumour saying Uzbekistan Airlines and Bangkok Airways are joining too - or SQ jumping ship to oneworld. Point is, this is based on rumours and the adoption process for a new member will take time - likely a year or more for integration. So what is the point of taking a guess on TP achievement levels based on pure guesswork now?

The actual story here is that Alaska Airlines is looking at oneworld connect membership, the second tier of oneworld membership, which looks like a nearly full alliance relationship with any sponsoring airlines (and I would hazard that BA would be happy to sponsor), and a very limited set of benefits for non sponsor airlines. This story has credibility and attributed quotes to AS' management, and features on this thread (see post 22 and beyond for recent developments).

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...ct-member.html

I haven't seen anything attributable for RAM, Aer Lingus or anyone else, apart from the previous and slow moving announcement for Fiji Airways.

Exactly.... :)

And that transition out is announced to last for a full year, so anything into oneworld on that front is unlikely to happen anytime soon despite AA increasing their investments in CZ.

• AT has been rumored for awhile and apparently their CEO is scheduled to be in NYC on the 5th.
• EI is obvious as to why they'd want in.
• IG with QR's involvement is another one that could be interesting and Central Europe is lacking since AB died.
• CZ having just announced leaving Skyteam and immediately getting even warmer with AA is another interesting point (though who knows how CX feels about it).
• If AA and BA sponsor AS as a connect member, that would be such an overwhelming percentage of their flyers that it would possibly make sense to just go for full membership.

Either way, I think it's interesting that I see 5 realistic options, OW could be set for a definite growth period.

There is a blog quoting possibly Royal Air Maroc and an announcement early Dec. I think they have some partnership with Qatar already? Article also mentions Alaskan.

So while if this isn't announced shortly then the thread is arguably pointless, allowing someone to debate a recent rumour is surely one purpose of these forums? If you don't like the question, then don't continue reading it or responding to it (not targeted at CWS).

Let's discuss the actual rumour, based on the information we have:
- There is a confirmed press conference at oneworld headquarters announcing the addition of a full member. That rules out that its Alaska joining as a connect member.
- The CEO of Royal Air Moroc has confirmed he will be in NYC at the came time as the press conference
- Royal Air Maroc already codeshare with IB and QR and already uses the avios programme
- Anecdotal but the addition of RAM would also be the first African carrier in oneworld
- Aer Lingus have previously mentioned joining but that news has cooled considerably since first announced and potentially they may also join as a connect member
- China Southern have announced their departure of Skyteam but as previously mentioned this will be a long process and if they were to join oneworld it would be a quite lead in time so potentially the press conference in week is a bit premature. If you actually have seen rumours of Uzbekistan Airlines, Bangkok Airways or Singapore joining oneworld I'd love to hear more.

The point of 'taking a guess' is because it's the educated guess of a group of passionate aviation enthusiasts on a discussion forum which is famous for that exact purpose. If you are not interested in the discussion this is entirely your prerogative.

Super valuable analysis here so thanks for putting it together. Due to the geography and route network of AT there are potentially some nice 140TP routes available. I'm not the biggest fan of their current fleet but they seem to be investing in their product and if they do join oneworld I think they offer some very interesting options for TP maximisation

Interesting possibilities for TP earnings. There definitely won't be any short haul + 80 TP routes though. SH+ is only for BA flights, the excpetion being UK-HEL routes which includes AY UK-HEL flights due to the JBA between BA and AY.

I would love it... :)

I definitely don't see the route network (especially multiple connections) that would make them competitive with QR or AA as TP runs...

Nor have I ever seen J fares so low that I've thought "shame I can't earn TPs for it"

Joining OW might come with codeshare agreements with the likes of BA though, which could open the door to SH+. Granted, a few layered assumptions in that one.

Speculation in the comments at OMAAT about Phillipines Airlines, too - fairly close links to CX already. Network wise, I have to think that RAM plug the biggest gap on the map though.

Cos it's fun?

Your King Canute impression trying to stop the tide of speculation on FT is very commendable but I fear will end in the same failure :)

Are you contractually obliged to read this thread? I don't quite get why everyone has to only discuss things you're interested in?

So would I, because I think that IG (now known as Air Italy) has got some interesting possibilities for redemptions. For me here in central Europe anyway. They appear to not have a huge European network though.

OW must be really out of their mind to accept RAM. Nice flights, but only in the air. When on the ground - chaos everywhere. Delayed flights, cancelled flights without any staff to help all night long in domestic area...
This is a great way to sellout their reputation.

I agree that RAM could cover a big gap in the network, but I would argue more that central Continental Europe being the biggest gap for OW presently. Currently, we only have BA, IB and AY, which no one can argue that they have conveniently located hubs (LON/MAD/HEL) for intra-EU flying. It is a true shame that AB went under, since they did offer some possibilities.

Then again, the LH group pretty much have central Continental Europe sewn up, with prices to match.

You think you have problems?? In SEAsia, they don't put any lemon into the hollandaise. I live in Thailand. The hollandaise is just this rich, creamy, buttery, cholesterol-laden sauce that you pour on things like eggs (or, if you're like me, drink from a small glass), but not even a hint of lemon!!


And importantly, no validity for OneWorld Explorer fares.


AA is doing more than just increasing its investment. There are all sorts of new codeshares. Link.


So given that Alaska is not coming in as a new full member, and CZ needs some time to transition out of SkyTeam, the only logical choice left for a press conference in the first week of December would be RAM, no?

It's Flybe. Since they lost Loganair they're desperate to increase their code share network...

Two of my favourite types of 'shut-this-thread down' entreaties on this forum are: 1) There's no point in speculating on rumours; 2) There's no point in commenting on this incident as we only have one side of the story. There are others, of course.

Without such conjecture, this forum might turn into the Mary Celeste of FT.

Anyway, my source told me it was the RAF joining oneworld (great TP-run opportunities!), once the UK leaves the European Defence Agency post-Brexit.

Fair point on the network, I don't think I see a likely solution to that in the present time though. IG seem to mostly be flying within Italy or long haul so wouldn't be the answer [at least at present]. There aren't really any other well placed Continental Europe options that aren't already part of ST or *A that I can think of...?

It would also seem like somewhat odd timing for IG, given Al-Baker's recent comments and the QR interest in IG - but his comments may well be hot air again. I think they'd be a more attractive proposition to an alliance a few years down the road when they are fully stocked with ex-QR Dreamliners and however many 737s they're receiving so that they are running a really extensive network both short and long haul. Joining an alliance might be one path to fuelling that growth, though maybe they fit OW Connect better for that.

And I fully agree with you :) I'm not sure what the solution would be right now to plug this particular gap. The only real non-aligned carriers in central Continental Europe right now are U2 and FR, and I don't see them willingly stepping forward to join the OW alliance. So I guess it is a case of dreaming that there is quite a significant gap, but with no real contender to fill said gap :(

According to Wiki, IG will end up with 20 737Max and 30 788. That's isn't gonna give a particularly impressive short-haul connection network for Europe. Either a few routes served frequently or a bit of a lottery regarding decent connections to the LH network [that is: without making codeshare agreements to build that feeder system].

On the other hand, that's a rather larger fleet than RJ boast.

The only real solution I see is waiting for the Italian government to let AZ die so IG can aggressively grow.

I'm sure that will happen any day now.

Presumably another possibility could be Fiji Air joining as a full member, rather than a Connect partner...

Surely emirates joining would be best. Biggest travel region being missed out with cheapest influence to low cost resources and fuel, especially with QR offering little ME.

QR been threatening to leave so long. They can go to skyteam.

Malev really did fill a key hole in oneworld until they went belly up. The only independent carrier of any size in EE is AirSerbia which is an Etihad partner. Everyone else is either Star Alliance (Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, LOT Polish, Croatian, Adria (Slovenia), Aegean, Turkish) or SkyTeam (Tarom Romanian, Czech, Alitalia)

So after the announcement is there some humble pie to be eaten?

https://www.oneworld.com/news-inform..._col_count%3D7

I saw once that RAM/AT had a flight from Casablance to IAD, which might tempt me to try something different. But the sloping seat in their Business is a bit of a downer. But ex-LGW might just compensate!