Air India is closing on membership in the Star Alliance in a move that will make it the first Indian carrier to commit to joining a multilateral airline grouping.
Indian civil aviation minister Praful Patel says the state-owned carrier's board has given its backing for a Star Alliance bid. Air India recently completed the legal process for a merger with Indian Airlines and Patel says the integration, once fully completed within 18-24 months, will enable the enlarged airline to join a multilateral alliance.
Patel says that Star is Air India's first choice and he has indicated a deal should be reached with the grouping before the end of this year.
An industry source in India says the Star Alliance board is due to meet by the end of September to consider Air India's application and an announcement could come by December, possibly around the time that Air China and Shanghai Airlines become full members of the alliance. Star for now will only say that it continues to talk with Air India.
Merging Air India and Indian Airlines is intended to create a true "network carrier" operation and enable the enlarged airline to compete more effectively with expanding privately owned operators. Air India primarily operates international services while Indian Airlines operates domestic services as well as short-haul international services.
Star, oneworld and SkyTeam have all said they hope to eventually have a member airline from India, where the air transport market has been growing rapidly over the past four years.
Source: Airline Business
