Malaysia Airlines has formally joined the oneworld alliance, adding its 60 destinations in 30 countries to the alliance network and completing an important phase in the airline’s repositioning plan.
The first flight operated as a oneworld member operated between Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai, while Melbourne was the first destination to be served by Malaysia’s oneworld-liveried A330-300.
Malaysia Airlines’ membership of oneworld was sponsored by Qantas, in what is seen as a signal of the strengthening relationship between the carriers as Qantas seeks to establish a stronger presence in Asia.
Malaysia operates a fleet of 88 aircraft and carried 13 million passengers in 2011.
oneworld now boasts network coverage of 842 destinations in 156 countries served by some 9,000 departures a day on a fleet of 2,500 aircraft.
