NEW DELHI: The entry of Air India into Star Alliance, the mega club of 17 airlines spearheaded by Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines, has been cleared, The Times of India reports.
The muscle gained by merger with sister public airline, Indian, clinched the deal for the national carrier, with German carrier Lufthansa providing strategic support to seal it.
A formal announcement about Air India’s entry into Star Alliance is expected in December, highly placed civil aviation ministry sources told the newspaper.
The agreement would come into effect early next year, enabling Air India to provide seamless connectivity to its passengers across the networks of all Star Alliance partner airlines.
The Star Alliance membership includes US Airways, Air Canada and Air New Zealand, apart from Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines.
Initially, Star Alliance members felt Air India did not have the network strength in the domestic market to be a partner. The merger with Indian has resulted in an extensive domestic network and service standards are improving as the merged entity has started the process of inducting 111 new planes.
Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht met the civil aviation minister Praful Patel and Air India chairman and managing director V Thulasidas a few months back to begin the process of inducting Air India into the global alliance.
The fleet renewal plan of the national carrier includes purchase of 21 new aircraft (seven Boeing 777s, ten A-320 family aircraft and four Boeing 737-800s) within a year.
