Gardyloo

Oneworld has announced that Air Berlin will be joining the alliance, with details to be provided tomorrow.

http://www.oneworld.com/ow/news/details?objectID=22473

At present AB serves JFK, Ft. Myers, LAX, SFO and Miami to/from Dusseldorf, and Miami from Berlin.

This is great news especially for California, which so far has no Oneworld metal available to anywhere in Europe besides London. There are rumors from excellent sources that Iberia will also be starting LAX-MAD service in the near future, following AA, BA and IB's ATI approval.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

Thank you, Gardyloo. I didn't even know this was on the horizon.

W9London

Very interesting--I always thought AB was more of a non-frill budget airline. A bit of style shift for Oneworld, no?

travelgourmet

<i>I always thought AB was more of a non-frill budget airline.</i>

I wouldn't describe them as a top-tier carrier, but they aren't exactly no-frills. They are all-coach for short-haul flights, but intra-European business class is such a joke that this is hardly a differentiator, and their coach is reasonably competitive. The one thing that stands out to me is that their scheduling is a bit like a budget carrier, with a lot of non-daily flights and a lot of point-to-point routes to sun-and-fun destinations.

All in all, they may be a bit of a step down from BA or Cathay, but they are not really out of step with the likes of AA or Iberia or Royal Jordanian.

cynstalker

Great news - thanks for sharing Gardyloo!

JoyC

I fly them quite often....actually my first choice intra-Europe. I don't know but I really like them and I'm glad I'll be getting some mileage credit from them.