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Saturday April 8, 2:12 AMStar Alliance to welcome Shanghai Airways to expanding group
"We continue to discuss the advantages of the alliance with other carriers where we have what we call 'white spots', or parts of the globe where there are opportunities to improve service, such as China, India and Russia," Jaan Albrecht, the chief executive of Star Alliance, told reporters. Albrecht, speaking at a ceremony here to welcome the alliance's latest member, Swiss International Air Lines, did not identify the carriers involved or give details of the status of negotiations. "Don't expect us to make an announcement here and now. But believe me, we are weeks away from an announcement, not months," Albrecht said. Vasing Kittikul, executive vice president of Thai Airways International -- one of the five founding companies of the Star Alliance -- later told AFP that the Chinese company Shanghai Airways was set to join. "Shanghai Airways will be one of the airlines to fill up the white spots," Visang said, declining to give details of talks with companies in other regions. Thai Airways already works closely with the Chinese carrier, as well as the Beijing-based Air China, Visang said. "I'm going to visit Shanghai Airways at the end of this month to talk about domestic flights in China," he added. The Star Alliance was founded in 1997 by Thai Airways, Lufthansa of Germany, Air Canada, Scandinavian Airlines and the US carrier United Airlines. It has gradually expanded over the past decade to include Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways of Japan, Asiana of South Korea, Austrian Airlines, BMI of Britain, LOT Polish Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Spain's Spanair, TAP Portugal, US Airways and Varig of Brazil. After Swiss International Air Lines' official accession, South African Airways is also set to join on April 10. Albrecht said that the alliance is pushing ahead with efforts to put members together in a single terminal at airports to smooth the movement of passengers between connecting flights. "In some airports where a change of terminals is needed, that time can run upwards of two hours. By locating in the same terminal, the minimum time can be as little as 35 minutes for some flights," Albrecht said. The alliance has also worked to forge links between members' ticketing systems in an effort to ease online sales. "With our business solution in place we are far ahead of any alliance competitor," said Albrecht. He also said that the alliance is looking for ways to distribute tickets without having to pay third parties, such as travel agents. "This costs some 2.0 billion dollars a year for our members alone," he said, adding that shifting away from traditional distribution channels could save airlines up to 80 percent. |
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