Oneworld and Star Alliance Expansion

[blankman]

Just received this travel daily update.. Can't wait to do a status run from Moscow..

Aegean Airlines to join Star Alliance; S7 to join oneworld

The Star and oneworld airline alliances have this evening made almost simultaneous new prospective membership announcements.

Russian domestic carrier S7 will become the 11th member of oneworld, having been sponsored for membership by British Airways.

The move will add 54 cities to the oneworld map - 35 in Russia as well as destinations in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

S7 is the first carrier in Russia to use an all Western-built Airbus and Boeing fleet as well as the first to offer full e-ticketing and online sales and reservations services.

The Star Alliance's newest member is Greek carrier Aegean Airlines, which operates to 17 Greek and 17 international destinations across Europe.

Aegean operates a predominantly Airbus A320/321 fleet on routes of up to four hours travel time from Greece, including London, Manchester, Paris and Berlin as well as major tourist destinations including many Greek islands.

The move will add 9 unique destinations to the Star Alliance network, and Star Alliance ceo Jaan Albrecht said the addition of Aegean would allow member carriers to easily facilitate VFR traffic from large Greek communities in Canada, South Africa, the USA and Australia.

Aegean Airline's accession into the Star Alliance is sponsored by Lufthansa, which already has a close relationship with the Greek carrier.

TD is currently on location in Greece for the Star Alliance announcement - full details in tomorrow's issue.

 

[aus_flyer]

Seriously.... has anyone actually heard of S7?

 

[tuapekastar]

S7 will be an interesting addition to oneworld (assuming they gain membership). Opens up a whole chunk of Russia/Central Asia that was fairly sparsely served by OW.

They are also operating to MAD.

A quick look at their website does suggest they also operate Tu154s and IL-86s.

 

[v8Statesman]

This is the website Tickets and Airline Reservations, flight schedules and travel tools Russia. Low fares Moscow, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Perm, Sibir, Siberia Airlines, S7 Airlines - Home for thoes that didn't know it already

 

[Slats7]

Very surprised to learn that S7 is now bigger then Aeroflot!

S7 Airlines - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

S7 Airlines is currently Russia's largest and fastest growing airline, increasing its lead in recent months over Aeroflot as Russia’s leading domestic airline.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S7_Airlines#cite_note-1

 

[drron]

I think this is good news as it does open up a lot more in Russia and Eastern Europe.Unfortunately I am planning a Russian trip in august2010 and by the sound of it will not be available then.Heres hoping!
I also love the names for their booking classes.Some of the russlish on the website is also interesting.

 

[notzac]

A quick look at their website does suggest they also operate Tu154s and IL-86s.

According to Wikipedia, the last of the Russian planes in the fleet were retired in November 2008. It then goes on to say that they'll be getting the new Tupolev Tu-204SM at some point soon.

Was also interested to find out they are currently bigger than Aeroflot, at least within Russia!

EDIT: their prices seem pretty decent as well. ~$2.1k AUD for LHR/FRA/DME return in J (flying on BA and S7) -- compared to ~$3k AUD for LHR/DME return in J, (flying on BA).

 

[russianrob]

Guys,Guys,

S7 is the "wreakage" from Sibir Airlines, who had one of the worst records in Russia.

And don't forget Aeroflot was broken up into many small parts, with the "new" regional parts getting all the worst planes and staff. The "better" parts were kept for the "new" Areoflot that does mainly International

 

[tuapekastar]

This is the website Tickets and Airline Reservations, flight schedules and travel tools Russia. Low fares Moscow, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Perm, Sibir, Siberia Airlines, S7 Airlines - Home for thoes that didn't know it already

Note to self - provide link!!

 

[moa999]

S7 - definitely oneworld's worst logo and plane colour scheme.

 

[tuapekastar]

Guys,Guys,

S7 is the "wreakage" from Sibir Airlines, who had one of the worst records in Russia.

And don't forget Aeroflot was broken up into many small parts, with the "new" regional parts getting all the worst planes and staff. The "better" parts were kept for the "new" Areoflot that does mainly International

Good to have a little 'local knowledge'.

I would have thought OW would be at least moderately picky about who they brought onboard as members? Be interesting to see where this goes.

 

[moa999]

Guys,Guys,

S7 is the "wreakage" from Sibir Airlines, who had one of the worst records in Russia.

And don't forget Aeroflot was broken up into many small parts, with the "new" regional parts getting all the worst planes and staff. The "better" parts were kept for the "new" Areoflot that does mainly International

S7 is the former Siberia Airlines (also incorporating Vnukovo Airlines). Formed in 1992 as one of the regional spinouts of Aeroflot.

3 pretty major incidents on its copy book, including 1 with a Western aircraft. (Wikipedia info)


* October 4, 2001: A Tupolev Tu-154M jet operating as Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 (RA-85693) en route from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk crashed into the Black Sea off Sochi, after being accidentally hit by a Ukrainian S-200 surface-to-air missile, killing all 78 people on board.
* January 12, 2002: A Tupolev Tu-204 carrying 145 passengers and crew slides off an icy runway at Tsentralny Airport in Omsk after both engines fail on final approach. There were no fatalities but the aircraft received substantial damage.
* August 24, 2004: A Tupolev Tu-154B2 jet operating as Siberia Airlines flight 1047 (RA-85556) en route from Moscow to Sochi exploded and crashed due to a terrorist bombing near Rostov-on-Don, Russia, killing all 46 people on board.
* July 9, 2006: An Airbus A310 operating as S7 Airlines Flight 778, carrying 193 passengers and 10 crew members, suffered a landing accident at the Irkutsk International Airport in Siberia. The jet failed to decelerate on landing, overran the runway and crashed into a concrete barricade. A total 124 persons on board did not survive.BBC News [6]
* July 9, 2006: An Airbus A310 operating as S7 Airlines Flight 1822, carrying 243 passengers and 8 crew members from Antalya en route to Moscow, performed an emergency landing in Simferopol due to a reported drop in oil levels in one of the engines. No one was injured

 

[v8Statesman]

I think we have to remember that amost any airline out of the eastern block is going to have a...how do we politely put it?....."messy" past.

BA are the sponsoring airline. I am sure OW will make sure they are safe for the OWE's to climb abord

 

[blankman]

Provided S7 doesn't 'enhance' its frequent flyer program it may also be an easier way to achieve OWE status.

Tickets and Airline Reservations, flight schedules and travel tools Russia. Low fares Moscow, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Perm, Sibir, Siberia Airlines, S7 Airlines - Statuses and Benefits

 

[Evan]

Seriously.... has anyone actually heard of S7?

Yep, and well known in the USA and Europe i believe, not a nothing airline and nothing to jump up and down about in terms of quality but a good addition if you travel to far parts of the world in east Europe.

Some safety issues are simply also a matter of where they operate, ice on runways is very dangerous.

 

[drron]

Provided S7 doesn't 'enhance' its frequent flyer program it may also be an easier way to achieve OWE status.

Tickets and Airline Reservations, flight schedules and travel tools Russia. Low fares Moscow, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Perm, Sibir, Siberia Airlines, S7 Airlines - Statuses and Benefits

From my quick calculations I think it is still easier to obtain status on QF.On a DONE4 I guess you would be in Teddys class not Lindas so earn 150% of miles.A 30000 mile DONE should be a doddle to get WP but on S7 you would be 75% there.There is also the problem of the full T&Cs being in Russian!

 

[Flying Fox]

S7 - definitely oneworld's worst logo and plane colour scheme.

Yeah but it makes it easy for their pilots to find their planes at the airport!

 

[NM]

Yeah but it makes it easy for their pilots to find their planes at the airport!

It looks like a confused bottle of lemonade, can't decide if its Sprite or 7 Up .

 

[samh004]

* October 4, 2001: A Tupolev Tu-154M jet operating as Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 (RA-85693) en route from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk crashed into the Black Sea off Sochi, after being accidentally hit by a Ukrainian S-200 surface-to-air missile, killing all 78 people on board.

Hardly S7's fault.

* January 12, 2002: A Tupolev Tu-204 carrying 145 passengers and crew slides off an icy runway at Tsentralny Airport in Omsk after both engines fail on final approach. There were no fatalities but the aircraft received substantial damage.

No fatalities, so that's a good thing.

* August 24, 2004: A Tupolev Tu-154B2 jet operating as Siberia Airlines flight 1047 (RA-85556) en route from Moscow to Sochi exploded and crashed due to a terrorist bombing near Rostov-on-Don, Russia, killing all 46 people on board.

Again, hardly S7's fault. Out of their hands.

* July 9, 2006: An Airbus A310 operating as S7 Airlines Flight 778, carrying 193 passengers and 10 crew members, suffered a landing accident at the Irkutsk International Airport in Siberia. The jet failed to decelerate on landing, overran the runway and crashed into a concrete barricade. A total 124 persons on board did not survive.BBC News [6]

The most serious accident where it would be their fault happens on a newer plane?

* July 9, 2006: An Airbus A310 operating as S7 Airlines Flight 1822, carrying 243 passengers and 8 crew members from Antalya en route to Moscow, performed an emergency landing in Simferopol due to a reported drop in oil levels in one of the engines. No one was injured

Their fault perhaps, but no fatalities. Not a bad safety record.

Provided S7 doesn't 'enhance' its frequent flyer program it may also be an easier way to achieve OWE status.

Tickets and Airline Reservations, flight schedules and travel tools Russia. Low fares Moscow, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Perm, Sibir, Siberia Airlines, S7 Airlines - Statuses and Benefits

I saw that too, though Platinum only gives you 75% bonus miles, not 100%.

 

[JohnK]

Does anyone know when A3 is likely to be accepted into *Alliance? I have a couple of short haul flights coming up in August/September and it would be good if I could credit to some *Alliance FF program.

A3's Miles & Bonus FF program is no good for me....