Who would be the next Skyteam member?
#811
Join Date: Nov 2009
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As far as Transaero goes, they are more likely to join *A more then anyone else. That's even assuming they join anyone at all. Even if they did join an alliance, skyteam is the least likely since it already has aeroflot (Although I suppose aeroflot could start up another merger).
#812
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Well, Sri Lankan Airlines (UL) has just been taken by oneWorld. It's a good airline with value fares. I wished Skyteam had approached UL considering the mess the airlines in India are facing. UL covers India quite decently, and a major airline to the Maldives.
Now that it's no longer on the table, I hope Skyteam step up their pursuit of the remaining airlines. Among the major ones left, Etihad and Virgin Australia would be a scoop if Skyteam can convince them.
Personally, I hope Skyteam can also recruit AirCalin, Air Pacific (soon rebranded as Air Fiji), Indigo Airlines, Philippines Airlines, Oman Air, Transaero, Iceland Air, Royal Air Maroc and Copa Airlines.
Whether it's for Skyteam Associates or the main partner, it doesn't matter. It's a competition ... and the more the better ...
Now that it's no longer on the table, I hope Skyteam step up their pursuit of the remaining airlines. Among the major ones left, Etihad and Virgin Australia would be a scoop if Skyteam can convince them.
Personally, I hope Skyteam can also recruit AirCalin, Air Pacific (soon rebranded as Air Fiji), Indigo Airlines, Philippines Airlines, Oman Air, Transaero, Iceland Air, Royal Air Maroc and Copa Airlines.
Whether it's for Skyteam Associates or the main partner, it doesn't matter. It's a competition ... and the more the better ...
U.L. would have been a good addition, but not a replacement for an Indian carrier. There is no way UL can ever cover India. A full service Indian carrier can do everything UL can for Skyteam, than UL can.
#813
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The sage continued to grow with 9W. Stay tuned.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/14205609.cms
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/14205609.cms
#815
#816
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In regards to Royal Air Marco, the airline is owned 95.95% by the Moroccan government, 2.86% by.Air France .and 0.95% by international Airlines Group . Im sure IAG would be interested in buying a larger stake in the airline.
#817
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 71
Based on the article posted on this forum about 9W it seems they are aligning themselves with Star Alliance more then Skyteam with discontinuing service to JFK (Delta's Hub) and Keeping Newark which is a United Hub. The other Europe destinations they say they want to focus on are Frankfurt and Munich again Star Alliance Hubs. They already have a Brussels Hub another Star Alliance hub. The only SkyTeam Hub they are looking at adding service to is Paris CDG (Air France Hub). So I think 9W will more likely end up in Star Alliance based on these facts.
#818
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Based on the article posted on this forum about 9W it seems they are aligning themselves with Star Alliance more then Skyteam with discontinuing service to JFK (Delta's Hub) and Keeping Newark which is a United Hub. The other Europe destinations they say they want to focus on are Frankfurt and Munich again Star Alliance Hubs. They already have a Brussels Hub another Star Alliance hub. The only SkyTeam Hub they are looking at adding service to is Paris CDG (Air France Hub). So I think 9W will more likely end up in Star Alliance based on these facts.
Must agree with this. Skyteam will have to offer 9W a lot to convince them to join. Looks more likely they've lost 9W to Star. However I doubt the Indian government will allow them to join until Air India joins an alliance!
#819
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Based on the article posted on this forum about 9W it seems they are aligning themselves with Star Alliance more then Skyteam with discontinuing service to JFK (Delta's Hub) and Keeping Newark which is a United Hub. The other Europe destinations they say they want to focus on are Frankfurt and Munich again Star Alliance Hubs. They already have a Brussels Hub another Star Alliance hub. The only SkyTeam Hub they are looking at adding service to is Paris CDG (Air France Hub). So I think 9W will more likely end up in Star Alliance based on these facts.
Their current destinations have very little relevance in the choice of alliance based on what their chairman has said in the past - if they choose Star Alliance, they are expected to move their scissor hub to MUC. If they choose SkyTeam, they are expected to move their scissor hub to AMS or MXP.
Also, one factor you didn't mention is the government of India. They are pretty pissed off with Star Alliance over the Air India debacle (and Star Alliance is pissed with them too). However, since the government of India is far more powerful than Star Alliance, and Star needs India more than India needs Star, it would not surprise me if AI ended up in Star Alliance instead of 9W. On the other hand, it also would not surprise me if AI ended up in SkyTeam and 9W in SkyTeam... Nothing is clear enough to be drawing conclusions right now.
#820
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Government of India is more interested in AI being the sole Indian carrier in the alliance they join than AI being the first Indian carrier in an alliance. That's why the Star Alliance issue is being held up - GoI is refusing to let 9W join the same alliance as AI, and Star is therefore refusing to let AI join. 9W joining SkyTeam would fix this problem up nicely.
#821
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While I agree that SkyTeam will probably have to work harder than Star to woo 9W (because Star is more desirable for 9W in terms of synergies). But I definitely would not write SkyTeam off.
Government of India is more interested in AI being the sole Indian carrier in the alliance they join than AI being the first Indian carrier in an alliance. That's why the Star Alliance issue is being held up - GoI is refusing to let 9W join the same alliance as AI, and Star is therefore refusing to let AI join. 9W joining SkyTeam would fix this problem up nicely.
Government of India is more interested in AI being the sole Indian carrier in the alliance they join than AI being the first Indian carrier in an alliance. That's why the Star Alliance issue is being held up - GoI is refusing to let 9W join the same alliance as AI, and Star is therefore refusing to let AI join. 9W joining SkyTeam would fix this problem up nicely.
- The Govt of India, that wants AI and only AI to join *A
- Indian flyers, who are in love with *A and will through a fit if AI joins *A.
If we can understand why Indian frequent flyers prefer *A, we can get a better understanding of why Jet would prefer *A. (When I say Indian frequent flyers, I mean Indian flyers based in India)
Indian frequent flyers a re a tough bunch--very demanding and exacting.
Here is my take on it. Indian flyers based in India form the newest segment of significant to join the community of flyers at large and FT like BBs in particular. India based passengers do not have as many opportunities for mileage runs as Americans and Europeans do for economic reasons, as well as for practical reasons. There are very few countries Indians can fly to without a visa. It's important for them to get status as quickly as possible, i.e. without a whole lot of flying. Star Alliance carriers offer some of the best opportunities for Silver and Gold levels. It's not that Indians are very price conscious, ( I would dare not use any other phrase to describe this tendency), Indians have to rely on easier path to elite status. This, in my opinion is the main reason why Indian flyers are enamoured with *A to the extent that they don't see any value in SkyTeam. Moreover, Star Alliance is the largest alliance and has been able to rope in some of the nicest Asian airlines better known in India, which ads to the perception of quality. It's easier for Indians to get a visa to Singapore, Thailand etc than it is to the U.S. and Europe. Indians are very brand conscious. Star Alliance has a good number of brand name airlines too.
With an overwhelming support for Star Alliance in India, and the perception favouring *A, it's natural for 9W to tilt towards that alliance.
SKyteam is a better choice for any Indian carrier, as it would give the former a definite advantage over other Indian carriers on certain routes from India. An Indian member of SkyTeam would have no competition within the alliance for India to South East Asia and East Asia routes whereas Star Alliance has SQ and TG, while OneWorld has MH.
#822
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I think that the average Indian frequent flyer cares more about 9W joining some alliance quickly than continuing with this unaligned crap and still dreaming about *A.
#823
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#824
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Thanks for all your comment. Very insightful views ...
I'm quite surprised by this. Yes, they are currently using FB as their FFP. So the next logical step would be to take part in the alliance, no?
Are they holding out so that they can have codeshares with other non-ST airlines?
I read this news too ...
But I hope that the discontinuation of the codeshares with DL will not discourage AT joining ST. ST needs to improve the connections within Africa, or at least that part of Africa. Star Alliance is well ahead in this part of the world.
The fact that they have not formally joined Star Alliance gives a chance to rejoin ST. They left ST mainly because CO (their main partner) at that time left ST. It would be good to have another Central American airline to compliment the coverage in the Americas. Copa is currently expanding into South America, and would provide connections to the northern South America, with Aerolinas Argentinas providing coverage on the southern continent.
Is this true as a permanent change?
I thought they did a one-time upgrade for the then associate members to full members. But the associate status is still available, except that there are no airlines in this category at the moment.
Agreed that Star Alliance is the only alliance without a Russian partner and would be most likely to snatch Transaero. But I hope ST can pull a fast one, like they did in China, and swipe most of the major airlines within the same region. Transaero is quite a nice airline.
Not sure if the Russian government has any rules to prevent more than one major airline into the same alliance (similar to the Indian rule) ...
Iceland Air is perhaps the few remaining of the full-service airlines within Europe that is not taken yet. Quite a nice airline and decent coverage between North America and Europe.
UL would not replace an Indian carrier, I agree. But with the situation now in a standoff, OW did a good pitch to invite UL to provide decent coverage in terms of network. For OW, they do have a gap in that part of the region between CX and RJ. Also, I love their fares. Would have loved to rake up miles on UL, especially the premium miles.
Are they holding out so that they can have codeshares with other non-ST airlines?
But I hope that the discontinuation of the codeshares with DL will not discourage AT joining ST. ST needs to improve the connections within Africa, or at least that part of Africa. Star Alliance is well ahead in this part of the world.
Is this true as a permanent change?
I thought they did a one-time upgrade for the then associate members to full members. But the associate status is still available, except that there are no airlines in this category at the moment.
As far as Transaero goes, they are more likely to join *A more then anyone else. That's even assuming they join anyone at all. Even if they did join an alliance, skyteam is the least likely since it already has aeroflot (Although I suppose aeroflot could start up another merger).
Not sure if the Russian government has any rules to prevent more than one major airline into the same alliance (similar to the Indian rule) ...
UL would not replace an Indian carrier, I agree. But with the situation now in a standoff, OW did a good pitch to invite UL to provide decent coverage in terms of network. For OW, they do have a gap in that part of the region between CX and RJ. Also, I love their fares. Would have loved to rake up miles on UL, especially the premium miles.
Last edited by azpyre; Jun 18, 2012 at 5:37 am
#825
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Huh? That's not at all true. Skyteam is number one in Africa (and China) by far. Have you looked at the routes? Especially all the new KQ destinations popping up regularly, with lots more to come. Plus Nairobi is a much, much, nicer place to have a hub than Addis. Star doesn't go to half the places that ST goes to in Africa. That said, it's good to have top status in both and OW too because a number of African cities are covered by only one alliance.