Thai Airways says it is happy in the Star Alliance, claiming that president Thamnoon Wanglee "never said that the airline wanted to leave". Thamnoon had reportedly stated that Thai had been advised to assess the pros and cons of Star membership in the run-up to privatisation, and that he was concerned at Singapore Airlines' impending entry.
The Thai denial followed a statement from Northwest Airlines chairman John Dasburg suggesting that it and Dutch ally KLM were "in talks" with the South-East Asian airline over involvement in the planned Wings alliance. The US major says it is "interested in potential co-operative activities with Thai", but will not say if this means full Wings membership. Northwest is seeking anti-trust immunity for codeshares with Malaysia Airlines, another possible Wings recruit.
Source: Flight International
