|
Star Alliance wooing Air-India, Jet Airways
BY OUR CORRESPONDENT
10 August, 2005: Star Alliance, a consortium of international aircraft carriers including Lufthansa,
US Airways and Thai airways, is actively wooing major Indian carriers to join its
fold.
Reports said the alliance is trying to rope in India’s largest private carrier, Jet
Airways and State-run Air-India, apart from another private carrier.
Industry analysts say the other private carrier could be Air Sahara though some
doubt this claim. Sahara had recently struck a deal with British Airways and hence
many see Sahara joining British Airways’ One World alliance rather than Star
Alliance.
Air-India and Jet Airways were in talks with Star Alliance for a long time. The
details of the negations are not known, but agency reports quoting a
top Star Alliance aide as saying a deal could be struck soon.
Aviation sources say the talks in itself are a recognition that the alliance gives to
major Indian aircraft carriers as the country is witnessing an aviation boom. This is
also indicative of the growing importance the global alliance attaches to the Asia
Pacific region.
The Star Alliance, the first such airline grouping, was launched in 1997. Star
heralded airline cooperation and took it to unprecedented levels. One striking
example is the integration of frequent flyer programme which allows airline miles
to be earned and redeemed by all member of the grouping. The alliance also
enables premium customers get access to all airport lounges of members. Another major advantage is that
flight schedules are well coordinated between alliance members. This means that
only minimum time is wasted on airport lounges and connection flights.
But the grouping also led to suspicions of anti-competitive policies. The European
Union even probed what it thought was a camouflaging of a virtual merger. Star’s
creation eventually led to formation of similar alliances like Oneworld and
Skyteam.
Star Alliance serves over 790 airports in 139 countries. Star developed the ‘regional’ concept in 2004. This was aimed at penetrating
individual markets through regional carriers. Star Alliance was voted best airline
alliance in the 2005 World Airline Awards for the second time in three years.
tBY OUR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT
|
