AIRLINE ALLIANCES

The increasing competition in the airline business made companies join their forces in so called alliances, agreements between airlines wiling to cooperate creating extended unified networks of connectivity and convenience for international passengers and international packages. The result is the reduction of costs generated by shared sales and operational facilities, operational staff. Making investments and purchases jointly, members of the alliances can get extra volume discounts.

Travelers also benefit from lower prices for a given route, more destinations made available and more departure times for certain routes with greater possibilities to optimize transfers.

A wider range of airport lounges shared with alliance members and faster mileage rewards by earning miles for a single account on several different carriers can be other benefits for travelers. Nevertheless, they can also feel disadvantages created by possible higher prices when all competition is erased by the creation of alliances on a certain route. The European Commission and other national antitrust bodies from the USA to Australia keep a close eye on airlines to maintain a proper competition in the field.

Landing rights may not be owned by the airlines themselves but by the nation in which their head office resides. If an airline loses its national identity by merging to a large extent with a foreign company, existing agreements may be declared void by a country which objects to the merger.

Star Alliance http://www.staralliance.com is the largest alliance of the world so far with 27 full members. We give you details about them here below, in their alphabetic order, also mentioning their official website enabling you to directly contact them.

ADRIA, AEGEAN, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zeeland, ANA (All Nippon Airlines), Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Blue1, British Midland International, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Egypt Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airlines, Spanair, SWISS, TAM, TAP Portugal, THAI, Turkish Airlines, UNITED, US Airways.


SkyTeam Alliance - http://www.skyteam.com – is the second largest alliance in the world, with 13 full members:

Aeroflot, AeroMexico, AirEuropa, AirFrance/KLM, Alitalia, China Southern, Czech Airlines, Delta, Kenia Airways, Korean Air, TAROM, Vietnam Airlines.

Oneworld Alliance - www.oneworld.com - is the third largest alliance of the world, with 12 members:

American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malév, Mexicana, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines.

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