Russia: There are domestic routes flown within Russia with Airbus equipment. While some Soviet era aircraft remain in service, there are also newer Russian, non-Soviet aircraft.

Middle East: I would expect the addition of a carrier here given MS and TK on the footsteps of the Middle-East.

All of the heavy hitters in Russia like SU, S7, UN and FV operate all Boeing/Airbus fleets with the occasional modern Russian plane like a Sukhoi or An-148, which are very safe. I think SU might operate a few Il-96s (late Soviet era) but those are few and far between and nothing like scary old Il-62s or Tu-154s. Some of the smaller CIS carriers though are truly a bit scary to fly like you say.

Isn't Jet Airlines in India trying to get in?

It's been very on-again-off-again with them. Currently that is being thrown into serious doubt because of the potential stake sale to Etihad.

Saying Star lacks an Australian partner is like saying oneworld lacks a Canadian partner.

Canada has a larger popoulation, larger land mass, and much further travel distances than Australia. On Star I can't do SYD-PER. Similarly, on oneworld I can't do YVR-YYZ (AA is not allowed to sell you YVR-ORD-YYZ as a single through ticket)

Regarding Star not able to fly you GRU-CNF, one could also argue that on oneworld you can't fly PEK-PVG/SHA.

For every "hole" of Star, one could easily counter with another "hole" within oneworld. No single alliance is perfect.

The middle east hubs are *transit points*. Few people would actually want to visit Doha. Between MS, TK, and a potential future India-based carrier, I'd say Star has the Middle East well covered.

A quick example - currently Star can already fly you into Dubai nonstop from 13 different locations, including 2 intra-ME routes of DXB-Muscat and DXB-Doha.

I agree with you 100% but I hope that rather comparing Star with other Alliances, we are just wanting to make Star better than what it currently is. A lot of people and companies are always just trying to compete with each other in so many industries now. Life is not about business. I would rather just always try to be my best rather than worry how I am compared with others.

Therefore, I think that OneWorld members should lobby them to operate in Canada, somehow. We can see a way for Star to improve and that is by plugging a hole in Australia, among others. If QANTAS wasn't with OneWorld, we'd still be pushing it, because it improves Star. :)

V-Aus would be nice (since they partner with SQ and NZ), but if I have to bet real money, V-Aus eventually goes to SkyTeam.