As South African Airways (SAA) and Swiss were formally welcomed into Star, the alliance says it is poised to announce its first recruits in China.
“Star has been looking at adding more carriers located in so-called ‘white spots’ where alliance penetration is poor,” says its chief executive Jaan Albrecht, with the focus on adding members in China, India and Russia. According to Albrecht, an announcement is imminent naming two Chinese carriers that want to join the alliance.
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| Star's Jaan Albrecht (centre) welcomes SAA's Khaya Ngqula (left) and Christoph Franz of Swiss into the alliance |
Talks have been under way for some time with Air China, while last summer Star confirmed discussions had begun with a second Chinese carrier, Shanghai Airlines. “The scope of the Chinese market warrants two members from the country,” says Albrecht. He says “the forthcoming announcement will concern one carrier, but an announcement on a second will follow shortly after.”
Star has been confident that it can secure Air China as a member, despite the Chinese carrier’s close ties to oneworld’s Cathay Pacific Airways, which has a 10% stake in Air China as well as codeshare agreements.
India is another geographic white spot that the alliances are keen to cover. “The Indian market is one with two major groups – Jet Airways and Air India,” says Albrecht, with Jet Airways seeking to merge with Air Sahara and a merger proposal also on the table for Air India and Indian Airlines. “We are focusing on these two groups and I expect an announcement of an Indian member in 2006,” he says.
In Russia it is SkyTeam that has made most progress. In mid-April the country’s flag carrier Aeroflot officially became the alliance’s fifth European member and 10th overall. Star carriers have extensive codeshares ties with other Russian carriers but there are no clear front runners for alliance membership. According to Albrecht: “There is a merger process emerging around Aeroflot, which is part of a changing landscape in Russia that we are watching closely, but I feel competition in the domestic market would be desirable.”
Swiss and SAA are Star’s 17th and 18th members, with SAA becoming its first African carrier. Prior to entry to the alliance the carrier’s IT system had to be migrated to the alliance’s new common IT platform provided by Amadeus. SAA is the first Star member to move fully across, leapfrogging lead members Lufthansa and United Airlines, which should both be fully migrated by the end of 2007.
JACKIE THOMPSON / JOHANNESBURG
Source: Airline Business
