Kingfisher Airlines is celebrating becoming part of the oneworld airline alliance. Chairman of the Indian based carrier, Vijay Mallya, signed an agreement to join the other members of oneworld last month and said that he was extremely pleased to have been asked to join the group. He added that in his opinion oneworld was the best airline alliance in the world and that Kingfisher would now have the opportunity of expanding the number of destinations it could offer to its passengers. The airline will now reach around 800 destinations in 150 countries around the globe, according to Mr Mallya.

The other members of the alliance will now be able to expand their reach across the subcontinent by teaming up with Kingfisher. The airline currently serves 61 destinations in India. Kingfisher operates around 380 domestic and long-haul international flights every day.

A report in the Jakarta Post put the revenues generated by Kingfisher Airlines at $US1.6 billion and claimed that the carrier served 11.6 million passengers.

Governing Board Chairman for the oneworld alliance as well as Chairman of American Airlines, Gerard Arpey, said that with Kingfisher agreeing to join the alliance, 2010 promised to be very exciting for all of the airlines under the oneworld banner.

Kingfisher will join eleven of the world’s best known airlines including British Airways, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, American Airlines and Qantas. As well as being one of the biggest operators in India, Kingfisher Airways has the honour of being one of only six airlines in the world to have been awarded a 5-star rating by Skytrax.