Summary
- Star Alliance is the largest airline alliance with 26 members globally, offering wide connectivity.
- Benefits for passengers include seamless booking and luggage transfer on multiple flights within the alliance.
- Changes in membership, like SAS leaving for SkyTeam, will impact Alliance coverage.
Many of the major airlines today are members of one of three global alliances - oneworld, SkyTeam, and Star Alliance. Several choose to go it alone (often with several other partners), but there are many advantages for both airlines and passengers in being part of an alliance.
Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance. It was founded in 1997 by five carriers spanning North America, Europe, and Asia. Today, it has grown to include a full 26 member airlines and has expanded to offer connectivity in Africa, Latin America, and Oceania as well.
What is an airline alliance?
An airline alliance is a way for airlines to collaborate and use their resources to benefit each other and their passengers. There are operational benefits for airlines, useful sharing on routes and connections, and opportunities for frequent flyers to benefit from shared miles and points collecting and elite status benefits.
By joining an alliance, airlines can offer passengers flights to destinations that they do not fly to and, at the same time, increase revenue. For the customer, it also allows them to book a single ticket on multiple flights and have their luggage transferred to their final destination.
Star Alliance was founded in 1997
The Star Alliance was created in 1997 and is now the largest airline alliance globally (by number of members and market share), with 26 member airlines connecting over 1,200 airports around the world. Like other airline alliances, Star Alliance members share terminals at some of the world's largest airports, allowing passengers to connect from one member airline to another easily.
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With the idea of having a global reach, the alliance was first founded with five airlines on three continents - United Airlines, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways, Air Canada, and Lufthansa.
- United Airlines. By fleet size, United Airlines is the third-largest airline in the world and has hubs at Chicago–O'Hare (ORD), Denver (DEN), Guam (GUM), Houston Intercontinental (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), Newark (EWR), San Francisco (SFO), and Washington–Dulles (IAD).
- Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). SAS is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, from where it flies to more than 100 destinations worldwide. Despite its recent troubles and heavy debts incurred, which have led to a lengthy Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, it has been instrumental in shaping the history of commercial aviation in Scandinavia. It is likely to be the first founding member to leave the alliance later in 2024.
- Thai Airways. Thai Airways is the national flag carrier airline of Thailand and is based at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) in Bangkok. It offers extensive connections within Asia and, together with Singapore Airlines today, provides good international links to the region.
- Air Canada. Air Canada is Canada's national flag carrier and is the country's biggest airline, with hubs at Montréal–Trudeau International Airport (YUL), Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), and Vancouver International Airport (YVR).
- Lufthansa. Lufthansa is the national flag carrier of Germany and one of Europe's largest airlines. Lufthansa was a crucial partner in getting the Star Alliance off the ground.
The 26 Star Alliance airlines today
Today, there are 26 airline members of the Star Alliance, which provides excellent global coverage. Several of these full-member airlines also have subsidiaries that are part of the alliance as affiliate members.
We would love to do a full profile on each and every Star Alliance member, but then we would end up with something like a novel. As such, here follows a list of the airlines currently in the alliance, in alphabetical order and including when they joined (including the already discussed founding members):
- Aegean Airlines (Greece), 2010
- Air Canada (1997)
- Air China (China), 2007
- Air India (India), 2014
- Air New Zealand (New Zealand), 1999
- ANA (Japan), 1999
- Asiana Airlines (South Korea), 2002
- Austrian Airlines (Austria), 2000
- Avianca (Colombia), 2012
- Brussels Airlines (Belgium), 2009
- Copa Airlines (Panama), 2012
- Croatia Airlines (Croatia), 2004
- Egyptair (Egypt), 2008
- Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopia), 2011
- Eva Air (Taiwan), 2013
- LOT Polish Airlines, (Poland) 2003
- Lufthansa (Germany) 1997
- Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden) 1997
- Shenzhen Airlines (China), 2012
- Singapore Airlines (Singapore), 2000
- South African Airways (South Africa), 2006
- SWISS (Switzerland), 2006
- TAP Air Portugal (Portugal), 2005
- Thai Airways (Thailand) 1997
- Turkish Airlines (Turkey), 2008
- United Airlines (US) 1997
Airlines that have come and gone
The 26 members today provide good global coverage. With all alliances, though, there have been changes in membership in the past. And there will be more changes going forward.
The several airlines that have been members of Star Alliance in the past include:
- Adria Airways
- Ansett Australia
- Avianca Brasil
- Blue1
- British Midland International
- Continental Airlines
- Mexicana
- Shanghai Airlines
- Spanair
- TACA Airlines
- TAM Airlines
- US Airways
- VARIG
Adding a rail operator
It has been a while since the alliance welcomed a new airline member. However, in 2022, Star Alliance and the German rail operator Deutsche Bahn announced a new partnership - the first of an airline alliance. Deutsche Bahn became the first intermodal partner of Star Alliance.
This partnership allows passengers flying with member airlines to combine tickets to German airports with an onward rail connection throughout Germany. These are some of the benefits Star Alliance passengers received:
- At Frankfurt Airport, they can use a dedicated AirRail check-in facility near the platforms.
- Business and first class travelers can access Deutsche Bahn lounges.
- Passengers can collect points and miles for train journeys that form part of a flight itinerary.
- Passengers can book a connecting itinerary with the flight and train on one booking number.
What's next for Star Alliance?
With more member airlines than any other alliance, Star Alliance is in a strong position. While all alliances have at least one major member in North America, Europe, and Asia, connections in other regions can vary.
Star Alliance has a strong presence in South America, though avianca and, to a certain extent, Copa. This is an area that oneworld is suffering in since the exit of LATAM in 2020. It also has about the best presence in Africa with Egyptair, Ethiopian Airlines, and South African Airways.
On the other hand, there is bad news with the likely upcoming departure of SAS at the end of August 2024. This follows the rescue of the airline by Air France-KLM, signaling a switch to SkyTeam. Such changes often take time, and we will need to see how the handover is handled. But this will certainly leave Star Alliance with a significant gap in Northern European coverage.
Asiana Airlines' involvement with Star Alliance may also be in jeopardy in the future. The Korean carrier has been acquired by Korean Air, which is a member of SkyTeam. So far, nothing has been announced since the merger of the two, and we will have to see what happens in the future.
We only have to see what has happened in the past. Earlier Star Alliance members, such as British Midland International and TAN, left the alliance after merging with British Airways and LAN, respectively.
Every now and then, there are rumors about a new airline member. For instance, airBaltic has a good collaboration with several of the alliance's carriers, and some ask if it could be preparing for full membership. Perhaps too, one of the fast-growing commercial airlines in India could be a good fit.
What do you think about the Star Alliance and its current members and coverage? Do you see another carrier joining in the near future? Please tell us your thoughts in the comment section below.
