Royal Jordanian : oneworld’s newcomers, TAM and US Airways, add 100 destinations for RJ passengers in the Americas

Amman, April 9, 2014 - RJ passengers can now fly to almost 100 new destinations as TAM Airlines and US Airways completed their transition to oneworld, on March 31, at a ceremony celebrated at TAM's Sao Paulo hub.

With this expansion, the oneworld alliance now comprises 14 members, which are, American Airlines (being merged with US Airways), airberlin, British Airways, Iberia, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, S7, LAN, Qatar Airways, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, TAM besides RJ.

US Airways' merger with American Airlines has created the world's largest airline by most measures. With both American and US Airways on board, oneworld becomes the leading alliance in the USA, the world's largest air travel market.

The addition of TAM consolidates oneworld's position as the leading alliance that flies within Latin America and between South America and the United States and Europe.

Royal Jordanian President/CEO Amer Hadidi said that travelers on board RJ, which has been a member of the alliance since 2007, are now able to reach 50 new destinations through US Airways, most in its US home, two in Canada and one each in Ireland and Mexico, and nearly 45 destinations in Brazil through TAM.

He added that this step marks the biggest single-day expansion of the world's leading quality airline alliance since its launch 15 years ago.

From April 1, frequent flyers in TAM's and US Airways' loyalty schemes can now receive oneworld benefits when travelling on any oneworld member airline.

Also the 140 million members of the established oneworld airlines' frequent flyer programs, including RJ's Royal Plus, can earn and redeem awards and tier status points and receive all other oneworld benefits when flying on TAM and US Airways.

To celebrate TAM's and US Airways' addition to oneworld, members of most established member airlines' loyalty programs will receive double the normal mileage awards when flying on TAM during May, while they will get double the miles when flying on US Airways between April 1, 2014 and June 30 2014.

Hadidi pointed out that partnering with such international names in the air transport industry is an added value to RJ which operates direct flights to New York, Chicago, Detroit and Montreal. He said that TAM and US Airways are bound to increase by a third the number of passengers carried annually across the alliance network, adding another 120 million customers a year and almost 100 destinations to the oneworld network - a near 10% increase.

With all its recruits, oneworld serves almost 1,000 airports in 150 countries, with 14,250 daily departures. It carries more than 500 million passengers a year on a combined fleet of some 3,300 aircraft, and generates $140 billion annual revenues. Additionally, it offers more than 600 airport lounges, including many frequently rated as the world's best.