New SAir unit to tackle alliances conundrum

SAirGroup is to create a single unit to co-ordinate its diverse portfolio of alliances and stakeholdings.

The new organisation will be responsible for the involvement of SAir carriers in the Qualiflyer Group, the Atlantic Excellence alliance, the European Leisure Group and route-by-route codeshare arrangement.

SAir says the move will make it "better able to consolidate and expand the strategic and operative co-operation within, and between, the various airline groupings".

SAir has so far avoided signing up to a major global alliance, and the groupings to which it does belong do not entirely complement one another.

Qualiflyer is an entirely European alliance, while the Atlantic grouping may be jeopardised by the burgeoning relationship between Delta Air Lines and Air France.

Source: Flight International