Airline alliance
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An airline alliance is an agreement between two or more airlines to cooperate for the foreseeable future on a substantial level. The degree of cooperation differs between alliances. The three largest alliances are the Star Alliance, SkyTeam and oneworld. A more recent development is the formation of alliances between cargo airlines, such as that of WOW Alliance between Lufthansa Cargo, Singapore Airlines Cargo, SAS Cargo Group and Japan Airlines Cargo.
[edit] Benefits/Costs
Benefits can consist of:
- An extended and optimised network: This is often realised through code sharing agreements. Many alliances started as only a code sharing network.
- Cost reduction: This can include sharing of
- Sales offices
- Maintenance facilities
- Operational facilities, e.g. catering or computer systems.
- Operational staff, e.g. ground handling personnel, at check-in and boarding desks.
- Investments and purchases, e.g. in order to negotiate extra volume discounts.
- Traveler benefits: Benefits for the traveler can be:
- Lower prices due to lowered operational costs for a given route.
- More departure times to choose from on a given route.
- More destinations within easy reach.
- Shorter travel times as a result of optimised transfers.
- Faster mileage rewards by earning miles for a single account on several different carriers.
- Round-the-world tickets, enabling travelers to fly over the world for a relatively low price.
Airline alliances may also create disadvantages for the traveler, such as:
- Higher prices when all competition is erased on a certain route.
- Less frequent flights, for instance when two airlines fly each three times a day on a given route, the alliance might fly only four times on the same route.
[edit] Hurdles to take
The abilities for airlines to form an alliance are often restricted by laws and regulations or subject to approval by authorities. Antitrust laws play a large role. Sometimes political quid pro quo between governments is at hand.
Also landing rights may not be owned by the airlines themselves but by the nation in which their head office resides. If an airline loses its national identity by merging to a large extent with a foreign company, existing agreements may be declared void by a country which objects to the merger.
The first large alliance which is still functioning started in 1989, when Northwest and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines agreed to code sharing on a large scale. A huge step was taken in 1992 when The Netherlands signed the first open skies agreement with the United States, in spite of objections uttered by the European Union authorities. This gave both countries unrestricted landing rights on each others' soil. Normally landing rights are granted for a fixed number of flights per week to a fixed destination. Each adjustment takes a lot of negotiating, often between governments rather than between the companies involved. The United States was so pleased with the independent position that the Dutch took versus the E.U. that it granted anti-trust immunity to the alliance between Northwest and KLM. Other alliances would struggle for years to overcome transnational barriers or still do so.
[edit] Global players
The three largest alliances are:
| Star Alliance | oneworld | Skyteam Alliance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passengers per year * | 425 million | 242.6 million | 372.9 million |
| Market share ** | 23.6% | 13.5% | 20.7% |
| Participants* | Adria Airways Air Canada Air New Zealand ANA Asiana Airlines Austrian Airlines Blue1 bmi Croatia Airlines LOT Polish Airlines Lufthansa SAS Singapore Airlines South African Airways Spanair Swiss International Air Lines TAP Portugal Thai Airways International United US Airways Varig |
Aer Lingus American Airlines British Airways Cathay Pacific Finnair Iberia LAN Qantas |
Aeroflot Aeroméxico Air France-KLM Alitalia Continental Czech Airlines Delta Korean Air Northwest |
| Network Strengths* | Global US & Canada (AC, UA, US) |
US & Canada (AA) Mexico & Central America (AA) |
US & Canada (DL, CO, NW) Mexico & Central America (AM, CO) Caribbean (DL, AM, CO) Western Europe (AF, KL, AZ, NW) Central & Eastern Europe (OK, SU) Middle East (OK, AZ) Asia (KE, NW) Pacific Islands (CO) |
| Network Weaknesses* | Central & Eastern Europe***(Malév) Middle East***(Royal Jordanian) Japan Domestic Network***(JAL) Africa (Comair, oneworld member because of its identity of BA frachisee) |
South America**** (Copa) Africa**** (Kenya Airways) Australia & New Zealand Japan Domestic Network |
|
| One-plane operations on Kangaroo route | NZ, OS | BA, QF | |
| External link | staralliance.com | oneworld.com | skyteam.com |
- * = as of April 2006
- ** = source IATA / 2005 Annual Report
- *** = these destinations will join the network upon the entrance of new member airlines (in parenthesis) in 2006
- **** = In 2005, SkyTeam launched its Associate Program, whereby existing codeshare alliances (such as Continental and Copa) can be integrated into SkyTeam's marketing (shared loyalty programs, etc.) in anticipation of the carriers becoming full members [1].
Network strengths are continents or regions where listed airlines have one or more hubs or a major presence in several destinations.
Network weaknesses are continents or regions with no hubs and few (if any) flights for any airline in the alliance.
As the table shows, the three alliances combined fly 58% of all passengers travelling each year.
