On Sep. 3, Dragonair announced that it will become a member of oneworld, the leading quality global airline alliance, on November 1 this year, offering the alliance's full range of services and benefits to its customers and at the same time greatly enhancing oneworld's coverage in Mainland China.

"Becoming a member of oneworld is an exciting development for Dragonair and is the latest benefit to result from our becoming part of the Cathay Pacific Group," said Chief Executive Officer Kenny Tang. "We are pleased that oneworld customers will be able to connect through Hong Kong to our extensive network of destinations in Mainland China and to the increasing number of business and leisure destinations we serve in the region."

oneworld Managing Partner John McCulloch added: "Since its launch eight years ago, oneworld has been the only alliance with a member from greater China, in our Hong Kong-based founder member Cathay Pacific. The addition of Dragonair means that oneworld will maintain its lead in this important, fast-growing region. With our combination of Dragonair, Cathay Pacific and the award-winning Hong Kong hub, it means that oneworld will offer the best quality airline service for travel to or from the whole of China."

Twelve of Dragonair's Mainland China destinations - Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Fuzhou, Guilin, Haikou, Kunming, Nanjing, Ningbo, Sanya, Shenyang and Wuhan - will be new to the oneworld network, taking the number of Mainland China destinations served by the alliance to 22.

Three other Dragonair regional destinations will be additions to oneworld's existing network - Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, Phuket in Thailand and Phnom Penh in Cambodia, with the latter country being served by oneworld for the first time. With Dragonair's joining oneworld, the alliance's network will cover more than 700 destinations in almost 150 countries and territories.

Joining the alliance will mean Dragonair's frequent flyers can earn and redeem mileage awards on all oneworld member airlines, while top-tier members will have access to 500 airport lounges worldwide. At the same time, members of other oneworld airlines' frequent flyer programmes will be able to earn and redeem awards and receive all other oneworld benefits when flying on Dragonair. The airline's network will also be covered by oneworld's extensive range of alliance fares.

Dragonair's sister airline Cathay Pacific is one of the founding members of the 10-strong oneworld alliance. Full members include American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, LAN, Qantas, Japan Airlines, Malev Hungarian Airlines and Royal Jordanian Airlines. Around 20 other carriers are affiliate members.

oneworld, the only alliance to enable passengers to fly throughout its network on any combination of carriers using electronic tickets, was voted the World's Leading Airline Alliance for the fourth year running in the 2006 World Travel Awards.

Its member airlines operate 9,500 departures a day with a combined fleet of some 2,500 aircraft, carrying 320 million passengers and earning total revenues of US$90 million in 2006. It is the only airline alliance with a truly global network, as the only grouping with any member airlines in the Americas south of Mexico, in the Middle East and in Australia.

Dragonair, which will be an affiliate member of oneworld, is a Hong Kong-based airline operating a fleet of 31 passenger aircraft and six freighters serving 31 regional destinations, including 21 cities in Mainland China. The airline has topped the "Best Airline - China" category in the respected Skytrax passenger survey for the past six years, highlighting its Mainland China expertise. Dragonair is part of the Cathay Pacific Group, providing seamless connectivity for passengers to more than 100 cities around the globe.

Photograph: Dragonair is all set to join oneworld on November 1. John McCulloch, Managing Partner of the oneworld alliance, was in Hong Kong on Sep. 3 to announce the airline's joining date and is pictured here with Dragonair cabin crew Teresa Kok (left) and Cindy Shin (right).