At last, Air India admitted to Star galaxy
After being rejected three years ago, Air India is poised to join Star Alliance after alliance members unanimously endorsed its entry.
Star Alliance member airlines CEOs will meet in London on June 23 for a formal vote, confirmed Mark Schwab, CEO of Star Alliance.
"The precise date of joining has yet to be decided, but it will be in July," he said.
Rohit Nandan, chairman and managing director, Air India, has asked IATA to conduct customer satisfaction surveys to monitor the airline’s service improvements.
"We are being tested against the quality of the best 16 airlines in the world and have started to show improvement," he said.
Commenting on the move, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said India’s entry into Star Alliance is "mostly a barometer of the global industry, as three Gulf carriers have come to dominate the international long-haul Indian market".
CAPA said the rise of Emirates, Etihad (now with Jet Airways) and Qatar Airways in carrying Indian traffic over their highly effective hubs and across their diverse global networks "has completely changed the shape of the Indian long-haul market, as it has in many other markets".
"Lufthansa, the only one of Europe’s big three to remain aloof from entwinement with a Gulf carrier, will be anxious to bring India’s languishing but still powerful flag carrier into the Star fold; not quite at any cost, but still recognising that Air India has a long way to go before it regains its position as a serious competitor on the world stage.
"In the process, Lufthansa looks set to reinvigorate its anti-Gulf carrier rhetoric, putting any thought of an Emirates partnership behind it," CAPA added.
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