the original StarAlliance agreement stated officially and in public veto-rights of any other StarAlliance member for applying new members from the same continent!
That was one of the largest obstacles to 'convince' TG when (promoted by in the first place LH, followed by UA) Singapore Airlines was 'ante portas'. But, as I (and it seems major airlines too, and in this case TG) learned from 'Godfather': there are offers you can't reject ...
[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited 10-26-2000).]