oneworld appoints Isabelle Gannoun as its new commercial head for France, Italy and Switzerland

oneworld^®, the leading quality global airline alliance, has appointed Isabelle Gannoun as its new Market Development Manager responsible for Italy and Switzerland.  She retains responsibility for the alliance's commercial activities in France which she has co-ordinated for the past year.

She takes on responsibility for Italy and Switzerland from Philip Lewin, who has left oneworld to take up an appointment with founder member American Airlines.

Isabelle's task is to increase market share for oneworld and its members in these "key markets", taking the drive launched by the alliance in these regions in the past couple of years up another gear.

oneworld comprises ten of the biggest and best names in the world airline industry, all international airline benchmarks for quality and value - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Finnair, LAN Airlines, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Qantas and Royal Jordanian, plus 20 of their affiliate carriers.  Mexicana will join them during 2009.  

Between them they offer the world's only truly network, with oneworld the only alliance with any member airline based in South America, in Asia's Middle East or in Australia.  The alliance serves some 700 destinations in almost 150 countries, carrying more than 320 million passengers a year worldwide on around 9​000 daily departures.

oneworld was named the World's Leading Airline Alliance for the fifth year running in the latest (2007) World Travel Awards, which have been described as the travel industry's Oscars

The alliance's member airlines are well established in both Italy and Switzerland.

Italy - Eight of oneworld's member airlines serve Italy with their own flights - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malév Hungarian Airlines and Royal Jordanian.  Together, these airlines serve 15mainland and island Italian airports - Rome Fuimicino, Milan Linate, Milan Malpensa, Bari, Bologna, Cagliari, Catania, Florence Pisa, Genoa, Naples, Olbia, Palermo, Turin, Venice and Verona.  From Italy, these airlines offer a total of more than a thousand flights a week with direct services to 15 destinations in Europe, the Americas and Asia and the smoothest of connections from there to rest of the alliance's worldwide network.

Switzerland - Six of oneworld's member airlines serve Switzerland with their own flights - American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Malév Hungarian Airlines and Royal Jordanian.  Together, these airlines serve three Swiss airports - Zurich, Geneva and Basel - with direct services to destinations in Europe, the Americas and the Middle East and the smoothest onwards connections worldwide.

oneworld offers a wider choice of great value and flexible alliance fare and sales products than any other airline grouping - for touring one continent or traveling all around the world, whether you are a  captain of industry or a student backpacker.

Italy and Switzerland are two of just six countries worldwide where the alliance offers its businessflyer sales product for small and medium-sized enterprises, delivering significant savings on regular air fares in return for a more regular relationship with the alliance's carriers.  Some 7​000 businesses have now registered as customers and revenues generated up more than 20 per cent year-on-year in 2007.

Customers flying from Italy and Switzerland can also now "mix and match" any published fares of any of the alliance's member airlines for trips involving flights by any combination of the carriers.  oneworld is the only alliance to offer this degree of ticketing flexibility between all member airlines.  It means passengers from these countries can fly in one direction on one oneworld airline and return on another alliance member - now using both airlines' most attractive published prices all the way.

Isabelle Gannoun joined the oneworld Management Company a year ago on secondment from founder member American Airlines, where her last job was as Leisure Sales Representative within the airline's Leisure Sales Department for the French market. Before that, she was the Sales Support Manager for the US carrier in France.

She also worked as a Sales and Marketing Assistant for American's general sales agent in France, from 1988 to 1991, as well as for Sabre from 1986 to 1988, further to initial experience at the Méridien Hotel at Porte Maillot, in Paris.

Fluent in French and English, of French nationality, Isabelle Gannoun was born and raised in Bermuda.  She graduated from Ecole Tunon in Paris with a degree in Tourism.

Reporting to oneworld Commercial Director Filip Lemmens, she maintains her base in Paris.

About oneworld

oneworld brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Qantas and Royal Jordanian, and around 20 affiliates including American Eagle, Dragonair, LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador and LAN Peru.  Mexicana and its affiliate Click Mexicana will join the alliance in 2009. 

Between them, these airlines:

• Serve almost 700 airports in nearly 150 countries, with some 9​000 daily departures.
• Offer nearly 550 airport lounges for premium customers.
• Carry 320 million passengers a year.
• Employ more than 250.000 people.
• Operate almost 2​500 aircraft.
• Generate more than US$100 billion annual revenues.

The alliance enables its members to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own.  These include a broader route network, opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles and points across the combined oneworld network and more airport lounges.