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The member airlines of the Star Alliance network and Air India have jointly concluded that the integration of Air India into the global airline alliance will be suspended. This is due to the fact that Air India has not met the minimum joining conditions that were contractually agreed in December 2007, the Alliance said.
Following a recent review of the status of Air India's application at a meeting held between the Indian Ministry for Civil Aviation, Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht and Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav, the decision to suspend has received subsequent confirmation by the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board.
Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht said, "With the collective decision to put the integration efforts on hold today we aim to contribute to Air India's flexibility to concentrate on its ongoing strategic reorientation."
Existing bilateral relationships with Star Alliance member airlines are not affected by this decision, which also leaves room to discuss a potential Alliance membership at a future stage, if deemed appropriate by both parties.
The Star Alliance network was established in 1997. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Avianca-TACA, Copa Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers more than 21,200 daily flights to 1,185 airports in 185 countries.
Visit www.staralliance.com