16 April 2007 -- The first of two Boeing 777s that Japan Airlines (JAL) is painting with a special oneworld® design to mark its recent addition to the world's leading quality global airline alliance made its maiden flight in its new livery today.

The Series 200ER Triple Seven, registration JA704J, took off from the airline's main international hub Tokyo Narita this morning, as flight JL441 bound for Moscow Sheremetyevo.

It is scheduled to operate later this week on services between Japan and Amsterdam and Paris, and on other European routes in the future.

JAL plans to roll out a second 777 in its special oneworld livery at the end of this month - a Series 300 version, registration number JA8941, which will fly on the airline's Japanese domestic routes.

The design features a huge globe in the distinctive horizon blue of oneworld, painted on the centre of the aircraft, with a stylised motif to symbolize the convenience, comfort, value and choice available to passengers throughout the alliance's comprehensive global network.

JAL became a member of oneworld on 1 April, and has been offering the full range of the alliance's services and benefits since then. Five other members of the JAL Group became part of oneworld alongside Japan Airlines on the same day, as affiliates - JALways, Japan Asia Airways, JAL Express, J-AIR and Japan Transocean Air.

They have added nearly 50 destinations to the network served by oneworld carriers. Members of the JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) can now earn and redeem mileage awards on all other oneworld carriers. JAL Global Club Premier, JMB Diamond and Sapphire cardholders can also now gain access to the 400 airport lounges worldwide offered by the alliance's airlines.

Frequent flyer programme members of the other oneworld airlines - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Iberia, LAN Airlines, Malev, Qantas, and Royal Jordanian - can now earn and redeem awards and receive all other oneworld benefits on JAL.

JAL's network is also now covered by oneworld's extensive range of alliance fares and sales products.

oneworld has been the only global airline alliance with the customer convenience of interline e-ticketing between all its partners for two years already, enabling passengers to transfer between its airlines' flights without the need for traditional paper tickets.

The same convenience was extended across JAL as it boardedthe grouping, as part of a comprehensive programme which saw all its internal processes and procedures brought into line with the alliance's requirements.

Joining oneworld alongside JAL and its five affiliates on 1 April were also Malév Hungarian Airlines and Royal Jordanian as members, and LAN Argentina and LAN Ecuador as affiliates, in alliance's biggest expansion in its history.

Their addition has expanded oneworld substantially, to:

Almost 700 airports, around a hundred more than now.
Nearly 150 countries.
9,000 daily departures, a thousand more than today.
Around 315 million passengers, 65 million more than at present.
265,000 employees.
Almost 2,500 aircraft.
Nearly US$90 billion annual revenues, up by a third.