One World press release, 16 Sep 08

oneworld®, the leading quality global airline alliance, and Lonely Planet, the leading global travel information provider, have joined forces to offer guides, tips and advice on some of the world's leading destinations in an unique and innovative format - available for free.

Their oneworld Travel Stations are being unveiled from today at selected airports across Europe starting with Amsterdam, Brussels and Milan (Linate and Malpensa) where they will be for an initial three-month period.

These highly engaging, interactive installations, geared at the smartphone and iPod generation, offer travel-related lifestyle content to busy business and leisure travellers on the move - and all for free. The Travel Stations' appealing design features interactive, touch-screen technology similar to the Apple iPhone. Travellers can use them before boarding a flight, to access data - text and pictures - and then download useful information, including language guides and audio casts, to their own smartphones, laptops or other devices.

With tips and advice on where to sleep, what to eat, where to relax, what to see and how to do business, the Travel Stations offer an insider's view on 28 of the world's most popular destinations - all of which can be reached by flying oneworld member airlines. Information about these airlines and their services is also included in the Travel Stations' databanks. While the content is geared more towards people flying on business, the oneworld Travel Stations have plenty to offer less frequent travellers too.

And for travellers whose mobile phones or laptops are running low on power, oneworld is also rolling out oneworld Charging Stations at selected airports - starting with Amsterdam and Brussels. These freestanding units provide a range of international power sockets enabling travellers to plug in their laptops, mobile phones, PDAs and other similar devices for a power top-up - again, all for free.

Notes to editors:

A video showing the Travel Stations in operation can be viewed at www.oneworld.com/travelstations/belgium
Print quality pictures of the Travel and Power Stations can be downloaded from http://www.oneworld.com/ow/news-and-...bCategoryID=28
These two innovations are key elements in the alliance's latest marketing communications campaign in its key target European markets, a programme which also features on-line and trade print advertising.

oneworld Commercial Director Filip Lemmens said: "The oneworld Travel and Charging Stations are aimed at building awareness of oneworld in some of our key target markets in a novel, interactive and interesting way.

"Their attractive and interactive design and the fantastic information provided by Lonely Planet reflect oneworld key virtues - the world-class quality of our airlines, the breadth of their networks and our determination to provide customers with great value and service, at the cutting edge of innovation. We hope people find them useful and fun to use."

Lonely Planets' Head of Business Development Ushma Patel added: "The Travel Stations are exciting new installations for travellers that can serve a number of their needs while biding time before or between flights. Travellers are increasingly relying on technology to enhance their trips and now they can get up-to-date practical information about a destination just before departing as well as authoritative reviews which you'd only find in our guidebooks."

Destinations featured in the initial Travel Stations include in North America Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver, in Latin America Buenos Aires, Lima, Mexico, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago, in Europe Barcelona, Budapest, Helsinki, London and Madrid, in the Middle East and India Amman, Delhi, Dubai andMumbai, and in Asia Pacific Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.

The Travel Stations were developed for oneworld and Lonely Planet by Imagination, the airline alliance's global advertising and marketing communications agency.

Call me a pessimist but I doubt that this concept will fly. Better to have the information on your Smartphone rather than using some installation at one place at the airport.

I'm with you, but you'd be surprised by how many companies are now hedging bets that kiosks of one sort or another will be viable. I can see that it offers consumers a more tactile experience - which also explains why bricks and mortar book and music stores haven't gone totally bust (yet).

Airports aren't a bad place to do something like this, especially if you don't have lounge access and are bored out of your mind.

IMO it'd be more viable still if OW member airlines offered the facility to download pod / vod casts from their own sites and IFE systems, plus syndicated this stuff through iTunes etc.

Call me a pessimist, but I find it odd that two of the three places are Skyteam hubs and the third isn't a hub for any alliance airline. Seems sort of odd.

Better test it in Skyteam markets before getting the bad press at home in your own hub? Surprised they didn't do it in YVR.