Star Alliance

"The Star Alliance is Born" – airliners of the five founding members (United Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International, Air Canada and Lufthansa) of the alliance gathered together, May 1997.

Four United Airlines planes at San Francisco International Airport. One is painted in the Star Alliance special livery.

On 14 May 1997, an agreement was announced forming Star Alliance from five airlines on three continents: United Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International, Air Canada, and Lufthansa.[9][10] The alliance chose Young & Rubicam for advertising, with a budget of $25 million (€18 million).[11] The airlines shared the star logo from the beginning, with its five points representing the founding airlines. The alliance adopted its first slogan, "The Airline Network for Earth",[9] with its goal "an alliance that will take passengers to every major city on earth".[10]

The now defunct Brazilian airline VARIG joined the Star Alliance network[9][12] on 22 October 1997, extending the alliance into South America. Also joining were Ansett Australia and Air New Zealand, expanding Star Alliance to Australia and the Pacific.[13] With the addition of the latter two carriers, the alliance served 720 destinations in 110 countries with a combined fleet of 1,650 aircraft. The next airline to join was All Nippon Airways (ANA), the group's second Asian airline, on 15 October 1999.[14][15]

During the early 2000s, a number of airlines joined Star Alliance; the Austrian Airlines Group (Austrian Airlines, Tyrolean Airways and Lauda Air) joined on 26 March 2000[16][17] and Singapore Airlines on 1 April.[18] BMI (British Midland) and Mexicana joined on 1 July, bringing the alliance's membership to 13.[19] With Singapore Airlines' entry into the alliance, Thai Airways considered moving to OneWorld, but eventually decided to remain.[20] The addition of BMI made London Heathrow the only European hub with two alliances. During the year, Emirates considered joining Star Alliance, but decided against it.[21] That year the now-defunct BWIA West Indies Airways, which had entered an alliance with United Airlines, considered becoming a member but did not.[22] In 2000, the alliance also opened its first three business centers (in Los Angeles, Frankfurt, and Bangkok) and announced the formation of an Alliance Management Team (AMT), the partnership's executive body.[23] In September 2001, Ansett Australia (the alliance's only Australian member) left Star Alliance due to bankruptcy, giving most of the Australian market to Qantas (a Oneworld member). That year, Star Alliance announced the appointment of a new CEO, Jaan Albrecht.[23]

Partner airlines promoted Star Alliance brand with a ‘Round the World’ ticket (RWT) that offered choice of 19,000, 21,000, and 23,000 miles with stopover of 15 cities valid for one year. RWT was path-breaking in that travel buffs could visit destinations of their choice by charting a year long itinerary without disrupting work commitments. Until then tourists took annual vacationa of two or three weeks, often settling for lesser known destinations because flights were overbooked during peak holiday season. Customer loyalty ratings went up, driven by the underlying message - Forget about the countries and cities. Go where RWT ticket takes you![24]

Asiana Airlines joined the alliance on 1 March 2003,[25] Spanair on 1 May,[26] and LOT Polish Airlines (Poland's flag carrier) in October.[27] Around this time, Mexicana Airlines left the alliance after deciding not to renew a codeshare agreement with United Airlines, later joining Oneworld.[23] US Airways joined the alliance in May 2004,[28] becoming its second US-based airline. In November Adria Airways, Blue1 and Croatia Airlines joined the alliance as its first three regional members.[29]

Although Star Alliance invited Lineas Aereas Azteca in 2005 to join in mid-2007, the airline filed for bankruptcy. TAP Air Portugal joined on 14 March 2005, adding African destinations to the network.[30][31] In April 2006 Swiss International Air Lines, the alliance's sixth European airline, and South African Airways (its first African carrier) became the 17th and 18th members.[32]

By May 2007, Star Alliance's 10th anniversary, its members had a combined 16,000 daily departures to 855 destinations in 155 countries and served 406 million passengers annually. The alliance introduced Biosphere Connections, a partnership with UNESCO, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands to promote environmental sustainability.[33][34]

Today, nearly 30% of global air travellers use the services of our member carriers or, looking at it from an overall industry perspective, two-thirds of worldwide air travellers use one of the three airline alliances.

— Jaan Albrecht, former Star Alliance CEO[35]

VARIG left the alliance on 31 January 2007,[36] and the two Chinese airlines, Air China and Shanghai Airlines joined on 12 December.[37]

On 1 April 2008, Turkish Airlines joined the alliance after a 15-month integration process beginning in December 2006, becoming its 20th member.[38] EgyptAir, Egypt's national airline and Star Alliance's second African carrier, joined on 11 July 2008.[39]

On 27 October 2009, Continental Airlines became the 25th member of Star Alliance after leaving SkyTeam three days earlier. According to alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht, "Bringing Continental Airlines into Star Alliance has been a truly unique experience. This is the first time an airline has moved directly from one alliance to another and I would like to thank all those involved in ensuring a smooth switch". At the time, it was rumoured that the switch was Continental's first move in a planned merger with United Airlines.[40] Two months later, Brussels Airlines joined the alliance.[41]

Brazilian carrier TAM Airlines joined Star Alliance on 13 May 2010,[42] increasing its foothold in South America.[43] Aegean Airlines, Greece's largest airline by number of passengers, joined on 30 June.[44]

Shanghai Airlines left the alliance on 31 October 2010 when it merged with China Eastern Airlines, a SkyTeam member.[45] On 29 September, the chief executive board approved Ethiopian Airlines as Star Alliance's 30th member.[46][47] In 2010 the alliance flew to 1,172 airports in 181 countries, with about 21,200 daily departures.[46]

Four members of Star Alliance at Tokyo Narita Airport: Thai, United, Swiss and SAS

Since 2011, the alliance has gained several large members but has lost others due to collapse or mergers. On 13 December 2011, Ethiopian Airlines joined, adding five countries and 24 destinations to the alliance's map.[48]

Star Alliance saw a tumultuous 2012–13, starting with two key departures but ending with a major move into Latin America. In Europe, Spanair ceased operations, and BMI left after being acquired by International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of Oneworld members Iberia and British Airways. BMI was integrated into British Airways.[49][50] In North America, Continental merged with United Airlines, reducing Star's membership further, even if it effectively stayed in the alliance after the merger.[51] On 21 June, though, Avianca, TACA Airlines and Copa Airlines joined, massively increasing the alliance's Latin American presence.[52] In November, Blue1 left after becoming an affiliate of parent Scandinavian Airlines.[53] and Shenzhen Airlines joined, augmenting Air China's Chinese network.[54] Taiwanese carrier EVA Air then joined on 18 June 2013, and after TACA's integration into Avianca, the alliance grew to 28 members, making it the largest of the three major airline alliances.[55][56] On 13 December, Air India was again invited to begin an integration process with Star Alliance and joined the alliance on 3 July 2014.[57]

Following this string of expansions, 2014 opened with two major departures through mergers. First, Brazilian carrier TAM Airlines merged with LAN Airlines to become LATAM Airlines Group, leaving the alliance without a presence in the world's fifth-largest country.[58] Next, US Airways completed its merger with American Airlines and also left the alliance.[59] Both parent companies stayed with Oneworld. On 24 June, though, the alliance finally approved Air India which joined on 11 July, leaving the alliance at 27 members.[60][61][62][63]

Future expansion centers around the addition of Connecting Partners, subsidiaries or partners of alliance members which will add connectivity to the alliance without becoming full members. Avianca Brasil joined in this way on 22 July 2015, bringing the alliance back into the Brazilian market partially filling the void left by TAM.[64] South African Airways' low-cost subsidiary, Mango, was initially announced to join as a Connecting Partner in Q3 2016[65] but has since been delayed. Juneyao Airlines, which codeshares with Shenzhen Airlines, joined as a Connecting Partner on 23 May 2017.[66][67][68] Thai Smile, subsidiary of Thai Airways, joined as a Connecting Partner in February 2020.[69] On 20 August 2019, Star Alliance announced affiliate member Avianca Brasil's exit from the alliance from 1 September 2019. The departure, however, won't affect Avianca's membership.[70][71] On 30 September 2019, Adria Airways ceased operations, and the airline exited the alliance on 2 October 2019.[72]

On 16 November 2020, Asiana Airlines announce their plans to exit the alliance.[73] Asiana will merge with Korean Air, the Korean Government confirmed, in a $1.6 billion acquisition by the SkyTeam member.[74]

In 2022, Lufthansa announced plans to buy 40% stake in ITA Airways, a SkyTeam member. If this goes through then the latter can become a member of Star Alliance.[75][76]

Member	Joined	Member Affiliates
Aegean Airlines[77]	30 June 2010	Olympic Air[E]
Air Canada[A][77]	14 May 1997	Air Canada Express[B] Air Canada Rouge
Air China[77]	12 December 2007	Air China Inner Mongolia
Air India[77]	3 July 2014	Air India Express
Air New Zealand[77]	3 May 1999	—
All Nippon Airways[77]	15 October 1999	ANA Wings
Asiana Airlines[77]	28 March 2003	—
Austrian Airlines[77]	26 March 2000	—
Avianca[77]	21 June 2012	Avianca Costa Rica Avianca Ecuador Avianca El Salvador Avianca Express
Brussels Airlines[77]	9 December 2009	—
Copa Airlines[77]	21 June 2012	Copa Airlines Colombia
Croatia Airlines[77]	18 November 2004	—
Egyptair[77]	11 July 2008	—
Ethiopian Airlines[77]	13 December 2011	—
EVA Air[77]	18 June 2013	UNI Air[E]
LOT Polish Airlines[77]	26 October 2003	—
Lufthansa[A][77]	14 May 1997	Air Dolomiti[E] Lufthansa CityLine
Scandinavian Airlines[A][77]	14 May 1997	Scandinavian Airlines Connect
Shenzhen Airlines[77][F]	29 November 2012	—
Singapore Airlines[77]	1 April 2000	—
South African Airways[77]	10 April 2006	Mango
Swiss International Air Lines[77]	1 April 2006	Edelweiss Air
TAP Air Portugal[77]	14 March 2005	TAP Express[C]
Thai Airways International[A][77]	14 May 1997	Thai Smile
Turkish Airlines[77]	1 April 2008	AnadoluJet[E]
United Airlines[A][77]	14 May 1997	United Express[D]

^A Founding member.
^B Air Canada Express flights are operated by[78] Jazz Aviation.
^C TAP Express flights are operated by Portugália Airlines and White Airways.
^D United Express flights are operated by Air Wisconsin, CommutAir, GoJet Airlines, Mesa Airlines, Republic Airways, and SkyWest Airlines.
^E Olympic Air, UNI Air, Air Dolomiti, and AnadoluJet are wholly owned regional subsidiaries that operate flights for their parent company under a different name.
^F Majority owned by Air China.

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Star Alliance members hubs

Connecting Partner	Joined	Affiliates
Juneyao Air[66]	23 May 2017	—
Thai Smile[A][69]	25 February 2020	—

^A As a subsidiary of Thai Airways International, Thai Smile was originally as an affiliate member, but it transferred as Connecting Partners since 2020.

Starting from August 2022, the German railway provider Deutsche Bahn will be the first intermodal partner of the Star Alliance, whose airlines will in future be able to assign their own flight numbers for trains.

Star Alliance has two premium levels (Silver and Gold), based on a customer's status in a member's frequent-flyer program. Member and regional airlines recognize Star Silver and Gold status, with a few exceptions mostly about airport lounge access. Membership is based on the frequent-flyer programs of the individual airlines. Many members have a premium status with their individual airline program that goes beyond Gold, however these levels are all grouped together as Gold status when being recognized by Star Alliance overall.[102]

Silver Status recognizes that customers having shown loyalty to Star Alliance member airlines and earns them two privileges that can make their journeys smoother. This includes priority reservations waitlist and priority airport stand-by.[103]

Star Alliance Gold status is given to customers who have reached a higher level of a member airline's frequent-flyer program. Benefits are priority reservations waitlist, airport stand-by, check-in and baggage handling; an additional checked luggage allowance of 20 kg (or one extra piece, where the piece rule applies), and access to designated Star Alliance Gold lounges the day and place of departure with the presentation of a Star Alliance boarding pass. Some airlines also offer preferred seating (an exit seat or a special section of the plane); guaranteed seating on fully booked flights, subject to the booking class code and notice period, and free upgrades in the form of a voucher, certificate or automatic upgrade at check-in. United restricts US lounge access for their Gold Members to long-haul international passengers; Gold members from other carriers are welcome in US lounges run by United on all itineraries.