One of the largest airline alliances of the world, Star Alliance was founded on May 14, 1997, by a group of five international airlines. The alliance achieved huge success in the following years
and in recent times the number of members of Star Alliance has been increased to 20. The airlines forming part of the Star Alliance offer about 18,000 daily flights connecting 965 destinations located in 162 countries. The aircrafts of Star Alliance operating under the member airlines number up to 3,294. The annual passenger turnover is approximately 492.77 million. The CEO of the alliance (as of November, 2011) is Jaan Albrecht, who began his aviation career in 1973 as a pilot for Mexicana Airlines
Star Alliance Members:
| Member Airline | Joined | Country |
|---|
| Adria Airways | 2004 | Slovenia | | Aegean Airlines | 2010 | Greece | | Air Canada | 1997 | Canada | | Air China | 2007 | China | | Air New Zealand | 1999 | New Zealand | | ANA | 1999 | Japan | | Asiana Airlines | 2003 | South Korea | | Austrian Airlines | 2000 | Austria | | Blue1 | 2004 | Finland | | bmi | 2000 | United Kingdom | | Brussels Airlines | 2009 | Belgium | | Continental Airlines | 2009 | United States | | Croatia Airlines | 2004 | Croatia | | EgyptAir | 2008 | Egypt | | LOT Polish Airlines | 2003 | Poland | |
| Member Airline | Joined | Country |
|---|
| Lufthansa | 1997 | Germany | | Scandinavian Airlines | 1997 | Denmark | | Norway | | Sweden | | Singapore Airlines | 2000 | Singapore | | South African Airways | 2006 | South Africa | | Spanair | 2003 | Spain | | Swiss International Air Lines | 2006 | Switzerland | | TAM Airlines | 2010 | Brazil | | TAP Portugal | 2005 | Portugal | | Thai Airways International | 1997 | Thailand | | Turkish Airlines | 2008 | Turkey | | United Airlines | 1997 | United States | | US Airways | 2004 | United States | |
The terms and conditions agreed upon by the airline partners of Star Alliance are as follows:
- Coordinated flight schedule
- Premium customer's access to all airport lounges of member airlines
- Cooperation in development of information technology
The benefits offered to people availing the services of Star Airlines members include the following:
- Frequent Flyer Program: Offers regular passenger's redeemable miles for their future flights on any of the member airlines.
- Star Alliance Gold and Silver Status: Offers customers priority benefits like standby, check-in, handling, boarding, lounge access and the like.
- Lounge access: All passengers availing the flights of Star Alliance members have access to the lounges at the airports served by the flights.
- Connections program: Offers assistance about flight delays and such problems.
- More Under One Roof: This program offers easy transfer for all passengers of member airlines.
Star Alliance members now fly over 21,200 daily flights to 1,172 airports in 181 countries with a fleet of 4,025 aircraft. Its members carried a total of 627.52 million passengers with a turnover of US$156.8 billion, €145 billion. The alliance's market share is 28% of the global market based on revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), which is greater than the combined market share of all airlines that are not in any of the three major alliances. All Star Alliance carriers combined employ over 405,000 pilots, flight attendants, and other staff. Star Alliance was voted best airline alliance in the Skytrax 2007 World Airline Awards.
Know more about Star Alliance Airlines: www.staralliance.com
