After a period of being an oneworld connect member, Fiji Airways will become a full member
Fiji Airways has been a presence in the oneworld alliance for the past five years as an oneworld Connect partner. During this time, the airline has developed cooperative links with all oneworld member airlines, paving its way to a more seamless integration as a full oneworld member.
Fiji Airways’ transition to full membership will commence immediately and will be completed within the next 12 months.
Fiji Airways, with its hub at Nadi International Airport, serves 26 destinations in 15 countries and territories globally, including oneworld hubs at Sydney, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and Tokyo. Fiji Link, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fiji Airways, will become an affiliate airline of oneworld and extend the alliance’s network even further by bringing its domestic flights to Suva, Nadi, Labasa, Taveuni and Kadavu; as well as regionally to the Pacific Island nations of Tonga, Samoa, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
The airline brings 21 aircraft to the network, including Airbus A350s, Airbus A330s and Boeing 737s.
In Quotes
Nat Pieper, oneworld CEO, said:
“It’s a very warm bula, or hello, to Fiji Airways as we welcome them as our 15th full member airline in the oneworld alliance. Fiji Airways is already part of the oneworld family, as we have had a highly successful relationship since the airline joined as a oneworld connect partner five years ago. With its tremendous growth, award winning product and services, and acceleration of connections with all oneworld member airlines, Fiji Airways will strengthen our position as the premier airline alliance for international global travellers.”
Andre Viljoen, the Managing Director, and CEO of Fiji Airways, added:
“I am extremely proud to announce our full membership in the award-winning oneworld alliance, marking a significant step in our commitment to providing unparalleled service and connectivity. As a full member airline, we are excited to enhance the travel experience for oneworld alliance frequent flyers, offering greater accessibility to Fiji and the South Pacific, and ensuring seamless connections and memorable journeys for Fiji Airways customers across the alliance network.”
Loyalty Matters
As a full oneworld member airline, Fiji Airways will provide oneworld Emerald, Sapphire, and Ruby customers with a full suite of oneworld benefits including earning and redeeming miles, earning status points, priority check-in and boarding and lounge access.
Likewise, Fiji Airways’ top tier customers will be able to gain access to all oneworld priority benefits including a network of nearly 700 business and First class lounges globally, as well as newly opened oneworld branded lounges in Amsterdam’s Schiphol and Seoul’s Incheon Airports.
Filling in connectivity gaps
There are various reasons why airlines join formal alliances – be it filling in connectivity gaps, providing levels of codeshares, ownership pressure, or trying to keep a group of frequent flyers corraled in their network by offering benefits for them across multiple airlines.
The “connect model” can be seen as a regional carrier model – feeding into the main network, without the full benefits for the flyer. With Fiji Airways joining oneworld fully, there will be a lot more compatibility (with a lot of the background world already completed in terms of systems compliance and connectivity to ensure the airline can “talk” to other oneworld members).
We’ll see how long the 12-month integration into oneworld as a full member takes…
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This is great news! Being a oneworld connect partner is a rather complex “lite” version of being part of oneworld. What passengers have or don’t have access to when flying Fiji Airways (as a oneworld connect member) is confusing for points gurus or those with status. Making journeys smoother for passengers is one of the key aspects of being in an alliance.