Markus Ruediger and Janice Antonson, respectively Director and Vice-President of Communications for Star Alliancemade the trip to Paris on Friday. The airline alliancewhich is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of its creation, is clearly entering the age of reason, or rather the digital age. Evoking a " change of strategy ", passing " from the network era to thedigital era "In his keynote speech, Markus Ruediger underlined the importance of new technologies in consolidating the Star Alliance offering. The alliance's standards will therefore be raised a notch in terms of connectivity, with a view to harmonising the technological side of member airlines. Rather than launching yet another application on business travellers' smartphones, Star Alliance intends to encourage the exchange of information between its members' mobile tools, thereby improving real-time information for passengers.
After twenty years of development, culminating in a network of 28 member airlines, has Star Alliance given up any desire to expand? " The time is no longer ripe for increasing the number of member companies "explains Markus Ruediger, who refers to a " ceiling reached ". However, the Star Alliance catalogue could well be expanded in the near future. While Gulf companies have been mooted for several years - after all, didn't Qatar Airways join OneWorld? - this target does not seem to be on the agenda. " Their network would add nothing to that of Star Alliance "Markus Ruediger points out that, unlike a player like Turkish Airlines, the domestic market of the Gulf carriers is not of major strategic interest. If the alliance's network were to be extended even further, it might well be in the direction of the most "restless" players of the moment: the low cost such as Norwegian, Levelor even Joon. Pure and simple integration into the alliance is not envisaged, due to the criteria of generalised partnership with all members. But a new format for cooperation could well pave the way for such a rapprochement. By joining forces with Juneyao last spring, Star Alliance discreetly introduced the status of "connecting partner with this Chinese airline: a position which requires commercial relations with at least three Star Alliance airlines - as opposed to all the members in the case of traditional alliance membership - and which enables it to reach markets which are still under-exploited. While he rejects the idea of a " low-cost alliance "Markus Ruediger seems to accept the concept of a " alliance light "which could be just the thing for low-cost airlines. " It's a model that gives us the opportunity to add non-traditional companies [to our network]. "says Markus Ruediger, paving the way for future partnerships, subject to mutual interest. " Many companies are interested "says Janice Antonson, Star Alliance Vice President Communications.
Star Alliance in figures :
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