Air India To Become 27th Member Of Star Alliance In July

Staff in uniform from the Star Alliance member airlines welcome their colleague from Air India into the Star Alliance family. Photo © Star Alliance

Air India will join the Star Alliance on 11 July 2014 and become the first Indian airline to join a global airline alliance.

Top management officials from Star Alliance commemorate the Alliance’s decision to admit Air India as its 27th member airline: Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr, Air India CMD Rohit Nandan, Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinscu and Star Alliance CEO Mark Schwab. Photo © Star Alliance

The airline’s membership was unanimously approved by the CEOs of the Star Alliance network at their Chief Executive Board meeting held in London on 23 June.

Air India will add a total of 400 daily flights and 35 new destinations in India to the Alliance network. The biggest growth will come from its home market which is currently being served by 13 Star Alliance members flying to 10 destinations and holding a 13 percent market share. Bringing Air India into the equation not only adds more airports but also increases the Alliances market share in India to 30 percent.

Globally, passengers will further benefit from a wider choice on routes connecting North America, Europe, Asia and Australia via the Indian Subcontinent.

In total the Star Alliance network will grow to 27 member airlines, offering more than 18,500 daily flights serving 1,316 destinations in 192 countries.

Reciprocal frequent flyer benefits between Air India’s Flying Returns program and those of the existing member carriers will also become effective on 11 July.