Originally Posted by
nordic
Actually AY routings between East Asia and Europe are pretty straight without any backtracking (ICN, NRT, NGO, KIX, PEK, PVG, HKG). Of course there are dozens of other important cities in Asia and AY's European destinations do not cover every city in Central Europe. However, the most wanted connections are rather easy and fast.
You mean only a portion of "most wanted connections" are rather easy and fast. The other alliances cover many more cities in Central Europe from all important cities in Asia with one stop and less backtracking. OW doesn't offer e.g. SIN-XXX-NCE, BOM-XXX-VCE, KUL-XXX-ATH without backtracking through LHR (or in some cases doing the dreaded bus transfer to LGW).
AY and MA (and their respective hubs) just don't offer the scale and choice of the continental European hubs of SkyTeam and Star. Whether it's on business or precious holiday time, double-connecting or excessive back-tracking doesn't make sense, which limits the value of the alliance.