Germany's Air Berlin on Tuesday became the first budget airline to join one of the three leading airline alliances, when it announced it would become the 12th carrier to sign on to Oneworld, DPA reported.
The move by Germany's second-biggest airline will help it both boost its customer base and expand the reach of its destination network.
"With our partners we can offer a global route network in the future," said Air Berlin chief Joachim Hunold.
Shares in the airline bounded ahead by more than 4 per cent Tuesday after it announced plans to join the alliance.
Oneworld's member airlines include American Airways, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas.
Germany's biggest airline, Lufthansa, is a leading member of the rival Star Alliance. The third major airline alliance is SkyTeam, which includes Air France, KLM and Korean Air