Japan Airlines Completes First Step to oneworld Membership

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 7  /PRNewswire/ -- . Japan Airlines (JAL) and oneworld(SM) have exchanged a memorandum of understanding, completing the Asian carrier's first step toward joining the world's leading quality global airline alliance.

The agreement was signed just three months after JAL first indicated its intention to seek oneworld membership.  It sets out a framework for the remaining steps to be taken before the alliance can formally invite the airline to join.  All parties have committed to reach this stage in the next few months -- and then to bring the new recruit on board oneworld on a fast- track program.

Assuming all remaining agreements can be reached, JAL should be flying as a full-fledged member of the alliance in about one year.

American Airlines will be supporting JAL through these tasks as its prime oneworld sponsor, assisted by Cathay Pacific.

"Adding Japan Airlines will be one of the most significant developments in oneworld's history," said oneworld Managing Partner John McCulloch.  "We are delighted that we have been able to reach this key stage in our discussions so soon.  It signals an excellent relationship going forward.  Bringing JAL on board is a top priority for the alliance.  oneworld and all its member airlines have committed to do whatever is necessary to complete this process as smoothly and speedily as possible.  We look forward to working with the team at JAL to complete the steps necessary before we can issue a formal invitation to join."

Said JAL Group Chief Executive Officer Toshiyuki Shinmachi:  "Discussions between Japan Airlines and oneworld have progressed at an extremely swift pace.  The memorandum of understanding signifies Japan Airlines' first major step toward obtaining full membership of oneworld.  We hope that we can maintain this pace and successfully complete all the stages ahead of us, so JAL can enter oneworld as soon as possible, to the benefit of our customers."

About oneworld

oneworld brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business -- American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, Iberia, Cathay Pacific, LAN, Finnair and Aer Lingus, plus their 12 affiliates.  Member- designate airlines Royal Jordanian and Hungary's Malev will start offering the alliance's services and benefits in early 2007.

The alliance enables its member airlines to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own.  These include a broader route network, opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles and points across the whole alliance network, and access to more airport lounges.

  Together, its members:

   * Serve some 605 destinations in 135 countries.  With JAL, Royal
     Jordanian and Malev, the oneworld network would extend to 696
     destinations in 141 countries and territories.

   * Operate more than 8,000 departures a day on a fleet of some 2,000
     aircraft.

   * Provide top frequent flyers and premium passengers with some 400
     airport lounges worldwide.

   * Carried more than 240 million passengers last year.

   * Earned more than $60 billion in revenues in their last full financial
     years, with oneworld activities generating one in every $30 earned by
     its member airlines from passenger services.



oneworld offers more alliance fare and sales products than any of its competitors, earning almost $600 million for its member airlines last year, with all passengers transferring between oneworld members generating revenues totaling $1.6 billion in the year.  It is the first global alliance to enable customers to transfer between flights by all of its member airlines using electronic tickets.

oneworld has won more top international awards for airline alliances than its competitors combined.  It was voted the World's Leading Airline Alliance for the third year running in the 2005 World Travel Awards, which are based on votes cast by travel professionals from more than 200 countries, and was selected the World's Best Airline Alliance by readers of Business Traveller magazine for the second year running in 2005.

Five of oneworld's existing partners operate to and from Japan -. American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair and Qantas -. carrying some four million passengers last year on a combined schedule of almost 200 round trips a week.  These link Tokyo Narita, Osaka Kansai, Nagoya Centrair, Fukuoka and Sapporo Chitose with direct flights to 13 destinations, including oneworld hubs Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Helsinki, London Heathrow, Hong Kong, Melbourne and Sydney.

About Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines is the largest carrier in the Asia-Pacific region.  In terms of group revenues, it would become the largest member of oneworld. Using virtually all other measures, it would be in the alliance's biggest three, alongside American Airlines and British Airways.  Until today, it was the only one among the 20 biggest international airlines in the world (IATA members) not to have joined or sought membership in one of the three key airline groupings.

From its main hubs of Tokyo (Narita and Haneda) and Osaka (Kansai and Itami), Japan Airlines serves 206 destinations in 34 countries and territories in Asia, Australasia, Europe and the Americas, including oneworld hubs Chicago O'Hare, Los Angeles, New York JFK, London Heathrow, Hong Kong, Sydney and Singapore.

It will expand oneworld's existing network by about 10 percent, adding 68 destinations -. 56 of them in Japan and five in China.  It would also add one territory -. Guam.

With nearly 24,000 staff in the air transport sector, JAL operates a fleet of some 280 aircraft, which last year carried almost 60 million passengers. It has some 1,140 departures a day.

JAL reported net profits of 30 billion yen (US $281 million) for 2004, on revenues of 2,130 billion yen (US $20 billion).

Founded in 1951, it is a public company with its shares listed on the Tokyo stock exchange.

JAL currently has extensive bilateral agreements with oneworld partners American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, LAN and Qantas -- and, since it indicated its plan to join oneworld, with Finnair as well.

Pictures, Logo and Video

Pictures and logos of oneworld and its member carriers can be downloaded from http://www.oneworld.com/gallery .

Pictures and logos of JAL can be downloaded from the news section at http://www.oneworld.com/gallery .

A video b-roll, with broadcast quality shots of oneworld and its existing member airlines, is available from AirTime TV (contact Martin White on [phone] or at  ). 

DATASOURCE: oneworld



CONTACT:  Michael Blunt, PR of oneworld, [phone], or

[phone], or  ; or Stephen Pearlman of JAL,

[phone], or  ; or Media Relations of Aer

Lingus, [phone]; or Corporate Communications of American Airlines,

[phone], or  ; or Kate Gay, Corp Comms Manager of

British Airways, [phone]; or Corporate Communications of Cathay

Pacific, [phone]; or Corporate Communications of Finnair,

[phone]; or Communications of Iberia, [phone], or

 ; or Communications of LAN, [phone]; or Corporate

Communications of Qantas, [phone]



Web site:  http://www.aa.com/

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http://www.jal.com/en/press

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http://www.aa.com/pressreleases

http://www.britishairways.com/press

http://www.cathaypacific.com/

http://www.finnair.com/

http://www.iberia.com/

http://www.lan.com/

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