The oneworld airline alliance will welcome three new members effective April 1: Japan Airlines (pictured), Malev Hungarian Airlines, and Royal Jordanian Airlines. The carriers will offer their passengers oneworld services and benefits.

ExpressJet (the former Continental Express) announced its first routes yesterday and began selling tickets for the new regional flights it will begin operating in April. The nonstop, 50-seat regional connections will include stops in California (Bakersfield, Monterey, Ontario, Sacramento, and San Diego), as well as Boise, Colorado Springs, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Omaha, Oklahoma City, Raleigh/Durham, Spokane, and Tulsa. The airline will be listed in several GDSs next month.

Delta Air Lines will launch new service June 16 between Atlanta and two new Caribbean destinations: George Town (Exuma) and North Eleuthera, with introductory fares of $199 each way (roundtrip purchase required by Feb. 12, with travel by Sept. 29).

Air Canada will add a second daily flight between Vancouver and Beijing between July 1 and Sept. 30. Starting June 30, Air Canada will go to daily service on its Toronto-Shanghai route for the summer, cutting back to three times weekly in the winter.

Midwest Airlines will expand its seasonal nonstop flights between Kansas City and Fort Myers to year-round service starting May 1. It will continue to offer Milwaukee-Fort Myers flights during the peak winter season. And, Midwest will run its seasonal nonstop service between Milwaukee and San Francisco from May 1 through Oct. 31 (two months longer than last year).

Yesterday marked the start of the new schedule linking LIAT and Caribbean Star Airlines, in advance of the carriers’ official merger. Both airlines’ flights now fall under the LIAT brand with the “LI” designator.

JetBlue joined forces with tourism officials in Aruba, the Bahamas, and Bermuda to give travelers from the JetBlue terminal (# 6) at New York/Kennedy the chance for a free passport photo and application. Check the airline’s Web site for details.

British Airways added two weeks to its Club World advance-purchase fares linking BA’s 19 U.S. gateway airports to London this summer. Roundtrip fares from $2,122 may be purchased by Feb. 15 for travel July 1-Sept. 2. These fares include lodging offers as well, so check BA’s Web site for the fine print.

Officials in Thailand will shuffle several domestic flights now using Suvarnabhumi (Bangkok’s new international airport) back to the city’s old Don Muang airport. They now admit they opened the new airport too soon, and as a result cracks have begun appearing in some of its runways.

(Photo credit: Japan Airlines)