Here it is rumors have been confirmed - Qatar Airways will join the Oneworld alliance in 2014. The date has not been set, but the membership process can take between 12 and 18 months. The invitation was given on 8 October 2012, during a conference held at the oneworld headquarters in New York.
Qatar Airways is the second airline in the Arab countries to sign a global alliance agreement after the Royal Jordanian. The other major carriers in the Middle East - Etihad and Emirates - did not consider joining an alliance, but concluded important agreements with major operators. Emirates and Qantas have announced a global partnership and will take effect in April 2013. Etihad has an agreement with AirBerlin and recently announced a partnership with the Air France-KLM group.
In 15 years of activity, Qatar Airways has built a solid network with numerous domestic and international routes to business or travel destinations. He has won many awards for the quality of services offered to passengers. Skytrax has also awarded it the title of the best airline in the world.
Qatar Airways operates 120 destinations from 70 from countries in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, North and South America, Asia and Australia, including to many oneworld hubs: Amman, Berlin Tegel, Buenos Aires Ezeiza, Hong Kong, London Heathrow, Madrid, Melbourne, Moscow Domodedovo, New York JFK, Osaka Kansai, Sydney, Tokyo Narita and Kuala Lumpur.
With Qatar Airways joining the oneworld alliance, the network will expand to 856 destinations from 159 countries, served by a combined fleet of 2.600 aircraft and operating more than 9300 daily flights.
Below you have pictures from the press conference
Throughout this accession process, British Airways is the sponsor and we could even say the mentor.