oneworld member airlines British Airways, Finnair and Japan Airlines have been in a joint revenue-sharing business agreement. The fourth airline Iberia has just been granted an extension of the anti-trust immunity to be included in the joint business between the three airlines by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Iberia is expected to join the from 18 October 2016. It will also start three-weekly non-stop flights between Madrid and Tokyo on 18 October 2016. The flights will be operated on a twin engine, wide bodied A330-200 carrying 19 passengers in Business and 269 in Economy.
Iberia flight IB6801 will depart Madrid at 1.20pm on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday and arrive in Tokyo the next day at 9.35am. The return flight IB6800 will depart Tokyo on Wednesday, Saturday and Monday at 11.20am and arrive in Madrid at 6.20pm the same day.
Finnair currently flies from Helsinki to Tokyo Narita, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka while British Airways operates a double daily service from London Heathrow to Tokyo’s Narita and Haneda airports. Japan Airlines operates daily services from Tokyo’s Narita and Haneda airports to Paris, from Haneda to London and from Narita to Frankfurt and Helsinki.
“We would like to thank the regulators for approving our ATI application for Iberia joining Japan Airlines, British Airways and Finnair in our current joint business between Japan and Europe,” said Yoshiharu Ueki, President of JAL. “This move will allow us to further strengthen our partnership with oneworld partner airlines, and will provide our customers with further benefits for travels between Japan and Europe.”
Alex Cruz, President and chief executive of British Airways said, “We are delighted our sister airline Iberia will be joining our oneworld partners in the joint business. The addition of more European flights to Japan, along with the benefits of co-ordinated schedules and frequent flyer rewards is fantastic news for consumers. Iberia’s direct flights between Narita and Madrid will be a very popular addition.”
Pekka Vauramo, CEO of Finnair, said, “The addition of Iberia to our existing joint business between Europe and Japan is a great asset and we look forward to working closely with all our partners in this alliance. We are especially pleased with the benefits and opportunities this will generate for our oneworld customers travelling between both continents.”
Luis Gallego, President and CEO of Iberia, said “We are very happy to launch our non-stop flights to Japan as part of this joint business. We want to offer our customers more and
better travel options and this will help us do so. We are also glad to contribute to the strength of the joint business and the oneworld alliance”
