India's Kingfisher Airlines Set To Join Oneworld Alliance

India's leading domestic carrier and only five-star airline, Kingfisher Airlines, is lining up to join oneworld® after signing a

memorandum of understanding as its first step towards full membership of the world's leading quality airline alliance, subject to Indian regulatory approval.

The agreement was concluded at a meeting between Kingfisher Airlines' Chairman Vijay Mallya and Chief Executives from oneworld's 11 existing member airlines, which include some of the best and biggest names in the industry.

Kingfisher Airlines has applied to India's Ministry of Civil Aviation for authority to proceed with its membership of oneworld.

A target date for Kingfisher Airlines to join the alliance will be confirmed once this approval is gained. The process to bring any airline on board normally takes around 18 months to complete, so Kingfisher Airlines could be expected to start flying as part of oneworld during 2011.

Kingfisher Airlines' addition to oneworld will link India's most extensive domestic network with oneworld's unrivalled global network, as the only alliance with airlines based on every continent.

 It will add 58 cities to the oneworld map – all of them in India. This will expand oneworld's network to 800 destinations in almost 150 countries, served by a combined fleet of 2,350 aircraft operating some 9,000 flights a day, carrying some 340 million passengers a year.

Established oneworld members American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Japan Airlines, Qantas and Royal Jordanian already serve five gateways in India between them – Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

British Airways will support Kingfisher Airlines through its alliance implementation program, as its oneworld sponsor.

Kingfisher Airlines Chairman and Chief Executive Vijay Mallya said: "Kingfisher Airlines is proud to be lining up to join the world's leading quality global airline alliance. Becoming part of oneworld would be one of our most significant steps so far - and is right in line with our vision to become one of the world's top airlines. It will enable us to offer our guests a truly global network served by partners who include some of the best known and most admired airlines in the world, with frequent flyer benefits extended throughout this network. It will also strengthen us financially, through revenues from passengers transferring to our network from our oneworld partners and the cost reduction opport

Indian Idol Returns for Its Fifth Season Only on SET Asia!

After creating ripples in the Indian television industry with its successful run of four seasons, Indian Idol the hugely popular adaptation of the blockbuster 'American Idol' format is back with its fifth season only on SET Asia. The fifth season of this iconic show, promises to bring alive the wave of enthusiasm among the youth and once again create a record in the history of television viewership. Indian Idol provides a platform for the young Indians who dare to dream, has the ability to chase them, and bring them to life. From being a path breaking show on Indian television in season one to creating youth icons and a band in the last season, Indian Idol has touched the zenith of reality television.

The show intends to give the youth of today their 'own icon'; an individual who in addition to being a talented singer is also someone the youth can relate to... be it attitude, style, desire to win and fight for the ultimate stardom. The show combines drama and reality with music, humor, thrill and glamour. This year Indian Idol promises to be even bigger with more auditions, a new line up of judges, guests, and hosts, a new prize, along the opportunity to sing in a Bollywood movie. Anu Mallik returns as a judge this season in addition to two new judges who will narrow down the search for that one iconic winner.

Stay tuned to see who will win a jet-set lifestyle and an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fulfill their dream of becoming a singing sensation on Indian Idol-Season 5 and watch a dream come true, only on SET Asia, coming up this April.