Although the rumour mill keeps spinning wildly, who do you think is close to joining the *A... VS? DJ? EY? QR? ZH? Tell me what you think!
I'll say QR, it's only a matter of time; they've only been partnered with *A carriers and in Feb 2009 Al Baker (QR CEO) mentioned talks and QR joining would have to be beneficial to both the alliance and QR. VS is already partnered with CA, NZ, NH, US, CO, BD, SA, SK, and SQ, in addition, they have 49% ownership by SQ. Branson mentioned he wanted VS to join in an Alliance and the remainder of their partners (VA, DJ, VX, 9W, MH, and Gulf Air) are not members in any alliance. EY is partnering up with more *A carriers and is now partners with BD, SN, OZ, NH, TG, and TK versus AA, S7, and MA in OW and AZ in ST. If there's an Alliance they're closer too, Star seems to be it; in addition they are doing more codesharing with VA. In turn, VA is more likely to join *A if VS joins in addition to its parent, DJ, partnering with NZ. EK did consider joining *A in 2000, and they are currently partnered with CO (ends in March), UA, SA, and codeshare on BKK-DXB with TG and only codeshare with JL in OW, and KE in ST; of the big 3 in the Mid-East, I'd place EK as the least likely to join an alliance, but if they did, I'd guess they would join star.
I do not have such a complex knowledge as ande777emt, but have one big wish - that DJ is the one that joins ASAP!
The more airlines the better, I find that I do all my international travel now with *A compared to 15 years ago it was all one world. It would be nice if there was one to do the domestic travel (Australia) with as well.
EY has just announced partnership with NZ. EK is unlikely to join any alliance. At the rate they are growing they will have a network equivalent to the longhaul network of an alliance within 10 years.
I spose I should be lobbying for all the Virgins but strangely enough I would love QR to sign on-liked them ALOT
+1 on the virgins and QR. QR seems to be building relations with * members and the recent NZ tie up is promising for future relationships. Those two would nicely fill the ME and Australian void. Doubt EK would be on the list, given the opposition by LH and AC to EK landing rights.
Except to fly NY to Rio you'd have to transit DXB.. I think EK is about to come to a crashing end. Once they run out of long haul ports to pick up people to fly thru DXB to somewhere else, the growth ends, and with no or little growth its no sustainable. Don't get me wrong, I <3 LOVE Emirates service, but its business model isn't really solid. Few people go to Dubai on holiday, very few of those would go back a second time. They only exist for thru traffic.
Since when has more miles been a problem for us FF addicts? I agree EK would die on O&D traffic alone but the number of connecting passengers is just incredible. The last few times through DXB early in the am I saw thousands of passengers streaming through transfer security and barely a handful go on to immigration.
DJ (Virgin Blue) has just started codesharing with NZ, through EY (Etihad): Its five-year alliance with Virgin Blue strengthens the Australian airline's ability to compete with rival Qantas Airways on routes between Australia and Europe.
Somewhat misleading. EK & DJ are/have parted ways. DJ now partners with EY (as does NZ), and has recently won approval for an alliance with NZ for travel between Australia & NZ (including domestic flights in each country in conjunction with trans-Tasman travel).
Me: grasshopper! Kiwi is right ... I got the codes wrong and have corrected original post to show EY (Etihad)! I still want the Virgins to join *A!!! Plus, didn't Air New Zealand's just buy up to 15 per cent of Virgin Blue?
But supposedly SQ is looking into selling their 49% stake in VS. Then again, there are also rumors that Branson is looking into selling VS, maybe to LH (which then would likely mean *A, no?).
What do you think about the Delta deal... I have been getting into the DJ lounge for months now with my medallion card...
Right on the spot regarding VS, it's a lot of good accounting I still see quite a few permutations by which VS could end up in *A at the moment. Even with EY purchasing them it could bring a combine EY+VS into *A. There is a possible BD merger, either under LH ownership or potentially by another group. Both SQ and Virgin/SRB have aired their interests in selling their stake, though I'm sure it all depends what offers are on the table. Also one Virgin airline joining *A doesn't necessarily mean all of them joining!
I would like to see QR becoming a member, which really is just a matter of time as others have mentioned earlier. I strongly believe they will help completing *A and cover the Middle East region properly.
I disagree. There is not much alliance competition if *a has all the airlines. I would like to see some of these airlines join oneworld or Skyteam.
Saw the news on bloomberg that EVA has submitted their application to join *A and waiting for approval.
So now that Shanghai Airlines is in skyteam, and the China Airlines making Taipei a Skyteam Hub, I guess it is good to get some *A competition in there
