oneworld has won an award for innovation in the travel industry – for the “travel stations” it has positioned at a number of European airports as part of its campaign to raise awareness of the alliance in some of its competitors’ key home markets.

It received the Innovation Award 2008 from the Netherlands’ Reisrevue travel trade magazine at the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) convention at Amsterdam. Market Development Manager Benelux and Germany Mairead Ryan collected the award on behalf of the alliance.

oneworld travel stations are currently positioned at Amsterdam, Brussels and Milan Linate and Malpensa airports. The highly engaging, interactive installations, geared at the smartphone and iPod generation, offer travel-related lifestyle content – and information about oneworld – to busy business and leisure travellers on the move free.

Their appealing design features interactive, touch-screen technology similar to the Apple iPhone. Travellers can use them before boarding a flight, to access data – text and pictures – and then download useful information, including language guides and audio casts, to their own smartphones, laptops or other devices.

With tips and advice from the leading Lonely Planet travel information organization on where to sleep, what to eat, where to relax, what to see and how to do business, they offer an insider’s view on 28 of the world’s most popular destinations – all of which can be reached by flying oneworld member airlines.

Mairead Ryan said: “oneworld always seeks innovative ways with the participation of our 10 leading airlines in developing ways in which to make travel for our customers attractive and enjoyable – and the travel stations are a classic example of this.”