It's been delayed until early 2014 as I recall. Garuda started the process of joining then overhauled their entire IT system. But I digress.

India already has AI, Brazil already covered by AV and TA (it is just unforunate JJ joined oneworld because of LA, unless RG reborn). Inter-Russia traffic doesn't yield much compare with other countries, so it is unnecessary. Besides, there are not much Russian airlines to grab anyway, other than SU, the next biggest airline is UN, but that is a discount carrier, any other Russian airlines with majority of Russian build jets that have poor safety record will only drag the alliance down. GA doesn't help a lot as SQ and TG already covered. I mean if you want GA why not even say they should get PR as well ? Both are the same 3rd-4th tier airlines.

What *A really need right now is a middle east carrier where the most money coming from and that side of the world is growing rapidly.

AI isn't joining anytime soon. And I think you underestimate the domestic Brazilian, Russian, and (in this example) Indonesian markets. They carry some of the most passengers in the world and have rapidly growing economies.

Chris

Actually China and Middle east are the most rapidly growing economies if not India, that's why *A would grab BR and even the tiny ZH. And like I said, Brazil already cover with AV and TA, Indonesia already cover by TG and SQ.

India's economy is not stable at the moment, other than AI, both IT and 9W have shrink so much that not many int'l routes left, even their domestic routes are in jeopardy. What's left are all discount carriers, I don't think any alliances are interested in any.

Many obscure carriers in the CIS operate old equipment with shoddy maintenance and pilot training but the same cannot be said about the bigger independent CIS carriers like UN operate pretty much all Boeing/Airbus fleets with the occasional Embraer or (modern) Russian plane thrown in the mix.

Perhaps the Russian domestic market is not that important but getting a Russian carrier on board opens the door to the entire CIS and other former Soviet countries... which have a combined population twice that of Russia alone. Sure, Central Asia is neither glamorous or exploding with economic activity, but it is a huge hole in *A's network which could be significant in the future. Right now, the only ways to get into Central Asia on *A is either on TK or on one of OZ's few Central Asia flights. This may be fine for the travellers entering Central Asia from Europe or North America but it doesn't do anything for people travelling to Central Asia from Russia or the CIS, which far outnumber "outside" visitors.

I don't think the Russian or Brazilian markets alone are entirely essential, but *A would benefit from a member from either country.

Yes, China is probably the fastest growing economy, but with the addition of BR, we have three Chinese carriers, hence I didn't mention that as something *A needs. *A would love to have a Middle Eastern carrier to add to MS' service, but EK, QR, and EY have both repeatedly turned down *A membership, so that doesn't leave a ton of options, maybe Oman Air, which probably wouldn't save that much time over just connecting in CAI with MS.

You really want to connect in LIM or BOG to go from GRU to BEL? Indonesia is hardly "covered" by TG and SQ since you can get to two Indonesian destinations (DPS and CGK).

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

Chris

Indeed. Now this would be a completely different story if Silkair were in Star Alliance, unfortunately Singapore Airlines doesn't seem to have any plans to bring them on anytime soon.

PLEASE! An Australian carrier!!! Since the demise of Ansett(remeber the year they joined and there were 5000 pts for each international sector flown - from 1 EU to another EU country counted as International ) Got 60000 bonus pts with Ansett just for a few trips imn europe on a LH ticket from AU with multiple coupons in EU
Also a redemption using Ansett points 12500 pts no fees for a C ticket - DUS-FRA-ZRH/TOR-FRA wow try that these days for 12500 points!
Anyway an Australian carrier - we are all hoping Virgin is being groomed - but with a large sharholding by SQ I wouldnt expect any major benefits except the standard Star Gold stuff
Lost them all when AU sabotaged Ansett and brought in Virgin and strengthened Qantas

Certain countries right now called the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are the countries right now with a rising middle class. These counties are the ones the alliances should go after and since star already got china and brazil covered (even with Tam exiting star alliance) that leaves India and Russia really that star needs to target

I travel often from Australia. To central Europe, I can use Air China, Asiana, Austrian, LOT, Lufthansa, Scandinavian, Singapore, Swiss, Thai & Turkish (with codeshares on some for the first leg). To the USA, only Air NZ and United (who STILL don't have personal TVs from Australia on such a long flight!!). Air Canada is often so ridiculously priced that I don't use them.

Thing is, if Virgin Australia joined Star Alliance, I would use them from Australia to the USA and Australia to Europe, always!! Now, I never fly them. But on a choice of VA or UA, why would I ever choose UA?

Also, in Australia, we have no-one and with the such long flights we have internally, that's a lot of $$. In Australia, now, I use whoever is cheaper (usually Tiger or Jetstar) but I would fly Virgin if they joined star, even for the premium cost. Another thing is that two of the busiest routes in the world are SYD-LHR and SYD-LAX. I would easily choose Virgin or Etihad on either of those routes, if they were in the alliance.

To the middle east, I currently fly Emirates. I would take VA/EH if they were *A instead.

Now that Qatar is joining OW and Emirates has a tie-up with Qantas. I'm switching alliances as I can fly Qantas in Australia, Emirates or Qatar (soon) to middle-east/europe and also CX, MH and others. Not bad. To the states, two of the best airlines on the route, Qantas and AA. Beats UA any day.

Star Alliance is losing my interest VERY quickly and I've already applied to switch to OneWorld.

DL also flies on SYD-LAX route, and I think if VA is going to join any alliance, Skyteam will be its first choice, as VA has very deep cooperation with DL.

Deeper than their cooperation with Singapore Airlines, now code-sharing around all of Australia and Asia? and Air New Zealand? Both are VA partners and *A members :)

DL just bought 49% of Virgin Atlantic shares, they probably will buy some VA shares as well, guess what will happen?

You haven't looked at the intra-Russian ticket prices recently, have you?
UN is not a discount airline: it has several classes of service, a FF program and it does not charge for food. The fares aren't very low either. You could call it a leisure carrier, but it won't be entirely true as they operate a lot of business-oriented routes to Russian and international (LON, JFK, Paris-Orly) destinations.
UT, which is rumored to be a future candidate for *A, has exactly 2 Russian-built planes out of 105 the mainline is using according to wiki (not counting the helicopter or the Ukranian division).

Virgin Australia is part owned by both Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand. Throw in the shares from Etihad and the shares from the Virgin Group, and there isn't really a whole lot of shares on the market to buy. Half the reason Delta was able to buy 49% of Virgin Atlantic was because someone had a 49% chunk willing to sell. DL could make a bid, but they would probably be paying quite a premium given how each of these carriers currently value their partnership with Virgin Australia. If anything, the current shareholder makeup guarantees that Virgin Australia stays non-aligned for the near future.