Star Alliance is to adopt its regional partner airlines as full members as part of a change in the way the increasingly-broad airline group is managed.
Three carriers - Croatia Airlines, Adria Airways and Blue1 - were given 'regional' membership status by Star when the alliance introduced the concept five years ago.
But a spokesman for Star says: "There are currently plans to look into the governance of the alliance, to put us into a better position for future growth."
He says that, as a result, the regional carriers will effectively be promoted to full partners.
Star has not given a time-frame in which the changes will occur and the alliance has yet to explain in detail the effect on its management structure.
The alliance has 21 full members and another five - Brussels Airlines, TAM, Continental Airlines, Air India and Aegean Airlines - are in the process of joining.
Aegean Airlines became the latest to submit its formal application this week, and its acceptance would bring the alliance to nearly 30 members, counting the regional partners. Other carriers, among them Ethiopian Airlines, have expressed an intention to join Star.
SkyTeam has a similar two-tier structure whereby its 10 full members are complemented by three associates. Continental is in the process of moving to Star, while Vietnam Airlines and Tarom are respectively lined up as a future full and associate members.
Oneworld has just taken its own prospective membership to 12 carriers, with the acceptance of Russia's S7 Airlines and Mexicana as new members. While the group is single-tier, it extends to the subsidiary carriers of its partners.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
