Airline alliance
An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare connections within countries. This branding may involve unified aircraft liveries of member aircraft.[1]
In 2015, Star Alliance was the largest with 23% of total scheduled traffic in revenue passenger miles (RPMs)/revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), followed by SkyTeam with 20.4% and Oneworld with 17.8%, leaving 38.8% for others.[2] In 2019, by number of passengers, Star Alliance was leading 762 million,[3] followed by SkyTeam (630 million)[4] and Oneworld (535 million).[5]
Rationale[]
 | This section does not cite any sources. (January 2013) |
Benefits can consist of an extended network, often realised through codeshare agreements. Many alliances started as only codeshare networks. Cost reductions come from sharing operation facilities (e.g. catering or computer systems), operation staff (e.g. ground handling personnel, at check-in and boarding desks), investments and purchases (e.g. in order to negotiate extra volume discounts). Traveller benefits can include lower prices due to lowered operational costs for a given route, different times to choose from, more destinations within easy reach, shorter travel times, More options of airport lounges shared with alliance members, fast track access on all alliance members if having frequent flyer status, faster mileage rewards by earning miles for a single account on several different carriers, round-the-world tickets, enabling travellers to fly over the world for a relatively low price.
Airline alliances may also create disadvantages for the traveller, such as higher prices when competition is erased on a certain route or less frequent flights; for instance, if two airlines separately fly three and two times a day respectively on a shared route, their alliance might fly less than 5 (3+2) times a day on the same route. This might be especially true between hub cities for each airline. e.g., flights between Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (a Delta Air Lines fortress hub) and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (a KLM fortress hub).
History[]
The first airline alliance was formed in the 1930s, when Panair do Brasil and its parent company Pan American World Airways agreed to exchange routes to Latin America. In 1990, the African Joint Air Services (AJAS) Accord between Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia led to the launch of Alliance Air in 1994, with South African Airways, Air Tanzania, Uganda Airlines and the governments of Uganda and Tanzania as shareholders.[citation needed]
The first large alliance began in 1989, when Northwest Airlines and KLM agreed to large-scale codesharing. In 1992, the Netherlands signed the first open skies agreement with the United States, in spite of objections from the European Union, which gave both countries unrestricted landing rights on the other's soil. Normally landing rights are granted for a fixed number of flights per week to a fixed destination. Each adjustment requires negotiations, often between governments rather than between the companies involved. In return, the United States granted antitrust immunity to the alliance between Northwest Airlines and KLM. Other alliances would struggle for years to overcome the transnational barriers and lack of antitrust immunity, and still do so.[citation needed]
Star Alliance was founded in 1997,[6] which brought competing airlines to form Oneworld in 1999 and SkyTeam in 2000.[citation needed]
In 2007 Tai Tung Alliance was founded. There are three airlines, Korean based City Express, Japan based Super Flyer and Spain based Vacation Line.
In 2010 Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group, announced his intention to form a fourth alliance among Virgin branded airlines (Virgin Atlantic; Virgin America; and the Virgin Australia Holdings group of airlines).[7] Then in September 2011, Branson said that Virgin Atlantic would join one of the existing alliances;[8] this idea was repeated in October 2012.[9] In December 2012, Delta Air Lines purchased Singapore Airlines' 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic for £224 million.[citation needed] Virgin America was absorbed into Alaska Airlines, which joined the Oneworld alliance in 2021.[10][11]
On February 14, 2013, it was announced that American Airlines and US Airways would merge, retaining the American Airlines name and would remain in the Oneworld alliance. US Airways' participation in Star Alliance lapsed. In 2012, in South America, LAN Airlines and TAM Airlines began their merger. In March 2014, with the merger complete, TAM left Star Alliance and became part of LAN in Oneworld.[citation needed]
On September 21, 2015, the Vanilla Alliance was formed between several airlines based in the Indian Ocean region, in order to improve air connectivity within the region. The founding members are Air Austral, Air Mauritius, Air Madagascar, Air Seychelles, and Int'Air Îles.[citation needed]
On January 18, 2016, the first alliance of low-cost carriers was formed, U-FLY Alliance. The founding members—HK Express, Lucky Air, Urumqi Air, and West Air—are all affiliated with HNA Group, although the alliance is also seeking airlines not within the group.[12]
On May 16, 2016, the world's largest alliance of low-cost carriers was formed, Value Alliance. The founding members were Cebu Pacific, Cebgo, Jeju Air, Nok Air, NokScoot, Scoot Airlines, Tigerair, Tigerair Australia, and Vanilla Air.[13]
Current alliances[]
Star Alliance[]
Star Alliance, founded in 1997, currently has 26 members:[14]
Aegean Airlines, 2010
Air Canada, founder
Air China, 2007
Air India, 2014
Air New Zealand, 1999
All Nippon Airways, 1999
Asiana Airlines, 2003
Austrian Airlines, 2000
Avianca, 2012
Brussels Airlines, 2009
Copa Airlines, 2012
Croatia Airlines, 2004
EgyptAir, 2008
Ethiopian Airlines, 2011
EVA Air, 2013
LOT Polish Airlines, 2003
Lufthansa, founder
Scandinavian Airlines, founder
Shenzhen Airlines, 2012
Singapore Airlines, 2000
South African Airways, 2006
Swiss International Air Lines, 2006
TAP Air Portugal, 2005
Thai Airways International, founder
Turkish Airlines, 2008
United Airlines, founderFormer members:
Adria Airways, 2004-2019, defunct
Ansett Australia, 1999–2001, defunct
Blue1, 2004–2012, now a member affiliate
BMI, 2000–2012, absorbed into British Airways[15]
Continental Airlines, 2009–2012, merged with United Airlines
Mexicana de Aviación, 2000–2004, joined Oneworld in 2009
Shanghai Airlines, 2007–2010, merged with China Eastern Airlines and joined SkyTeam in 2011
Spanair, 2003–2012, defunct
TACA, 2012–2013, merged with Avianca
TAM Airlines, 2010–2014, merged with LAN Airlines and joined Oneworld in 2014- US Airways, 2004–2014, joined Oneworld as an affiliate member of American Airlines
- Varig, 1997–2007, defunct
Star Alliance Connecting Partners[]
- Juneyao Airlines, 2017
Thai Smile, 2020
Oneworld[]
Oneworld, founded in 1999, currently has 14 members:[16]
Alaska Airlines, 2021 American Airlines, founder
British Airways, founder
Cathay Pacific, founder
Finnair, 1999
Iberia Airlines, 1999
Japan Airlines, 2007
Malaysia Airlines, 2013
Qantas, founder
Qatar Airways, 2013
Royal Air Maroc, 2020
Royal Jordanian, 2007
S7 Airlines, 2010
SriLankan Airlines, 2014Former members:
Air Berlin, 2010–2017, defunct
Canadian Airlines, founder, 1999–2000, acquired by Air Canada- LATAM Brasil, 2014-2020
LATAM Chile, 2000-2020
Malév Hungarian Airlines, 2007–2012, defunct- Mexicana de Aviación, 2009 (ceased operations in 2010)
- US Airways, 2014–2015, merged with American Airlines
Oneworld Connect Partners[]
Fiji Airways, 2018
Oneworld Transatlantic Joint Venture members
Aer Lingus
SkyTeam[]
SkyTeam, founded in 2000, currently has 19 members:[17]
Aeroflot, 2006
Aerolíneas Argentinas, 2012
Aeroméxico, founder
Air Europa, 2007
Air France, founder
Alitalia, 2001
China Airlines, 2011
China Eastern Airlines, 2011
Czech Airlines, 2001
Delta Air Lines, founder
Garuda Indonesia, 2014
Kenya Airways, 2007
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, 2004
Korean Air, founder
Middle East Airlines, 2012
Saudia, 2012
TAROM, 2010
Vietnam Airlines, 2010
XiamenAir, 2012Former members:
- China Southern Airlines, 2007–2018
- Continental Airlines, 2004–2009, joined Star Alliance in 2009
Copa Airlines, 2007–2009, joined Star Alliance in 2012- Northwest Airlines, 2004–2010, merged with Delta Air Lines
Vanilla Alliance[]
Vanilla Alliance, founded in 2015, currently has 5 members:[18]
Air Austral, founder
Air Madagascar, founder
Air Mauritius, founder
Air Seychelles, founder
Int'Air Îles, founderU-FLY Alliance[]
U-FLY Alliance, founded in 2016, currently has 5 members:[19]
Value Alliance[]
Value Alliance, founded in 2016, currently has 5 members:[20]
Former members:
- NokScoot, 2016–2020, defunct
Tigerair, 2016–2017, merged with Scoot- Tigerair Australia, 2016–2018, founder
Vanilla Air, 2016–2018, founder, merged with Peach Aviation
Statistics[]
| Alliance | Members | Passengers /year |
Countries served |
Destination | Fleet | Employees | Revenue /year (US$) |
Flights /day |
RPK[2] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star Alliance[21] | 26 | 642.1 Mn | 195 | 1,360 | 5,000 | 432,603 | 179.05 Bn | 19,000 | 1536 Bn | 23% |
| SkyTeam[22] | 19 | 665.4 Mn | 175 | 1,062 | 3,937 | 481,691[23] | 140.98 Bn[23] | 17,343 | 1362 Bn | 20.4% |
| Oneworld[24] | 14 | 557.4 Mn | 161 | 1,016 | 3,560 | 382,913 | 130.92 Bn | 13,814 | 1189 Bn | 17.8% |
| Value Alliance[25] | 7 | 180 Mn | 30 | 183 | 554 | - | - | 400 | 107 Bn | 1.6% |
| U-FLY Alliance | 8 | 200 Mn | 18 | 149 | 593 | - | - | 420 | 40 Bn | 0.6% |
| Vanilla Alliance | 5 | 2.3 Mn | 26 | 89 | 46 | - | - | - | - | |
Notes and references[]
- ^ Fernandez de la Torre, Pablo E. "Airline alliances : the airline perspective". DSpace@MIT. hdl:1721.1/68159. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 60th Edition. IATA.
- ^ "backgrounder". Star Alliance. 18 Oct 2019.
- ^ "Fact Sheet" (PDF). SkyTeam. 2019.
- ^ "20 years, 20 facts, oneworld". OneWorld. 2019-02-01. Archived from the original on 2019-11-30. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
- ^ BRYANT, ADAM (14 May 1997). "United and 4 Others to Detail Air Alliance Today". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
- ^ Perman, Stacy (2010-09-05). "Virgin's Richard Branson Circles His Wagons". Time. Archived from the original on 2 November 2010. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
- ^ Bruner, Jon (2011-09-14). "Virgin Atlantic Will Join an Alliance Soon, Says Richard Branson". Forbes.
- ^ Quinn, James (2012-10-26). "Virgin Atlantic to join global airline alliance, says Branson". Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2013-05-05.
- ^ "Virgin America flights become Alaska next April". Flightglobal.com. 2017-10-05. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
- ^ "Alaska Airlines Officially Joins oneworld". 2021-03-31. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ^ "HNA Group: four airlines form U-FLY Alliance, world's first LCC grouping, showing HNA consolidation". CAPA - Centre for Aviation. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
- ^ "Singapore Airlines’ Low-Cost Carriers, Others Start Alliance". Bloomberg. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ "Member airline". Star Alliance. June 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-03-04.
- ^ "Bmi Formally Leaves". Star Alliance. 2012-05-31. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
- ^ "Member Airlines". Oneworld.
- ^ "Facts and Figures". SkyTeam. 5 March 2014.
- ^ "Vanilla Alliance agreements signed in Antananarivo". ch-aviation. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
- ^ "UFLY Alliance". www.uflyalliance.com. Archived from the original on August 25, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
- ^ "Value Alliance". www.valuealliance.com/. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
- ^ "Facts and Figures". Star Alliance. 2 July 2015.
- ^ "Factsheet" (PDF). SkyTeam. Summer 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Factsheet" (PDF). SkyTeam. March 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-05-30.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- ^ "oneworld at a glance". Oneworld. July 2016.
- ^ "About". Value Alliance.
External links[]
 |
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Airline alliances. |
- Oneworld
- SkyTeam
- Star Alliance
- Value Alliance
- Graham Dunn (15 May 2017). "The 20-year history of global airline alliances". Flightglobal.
- Airline alliances