Airline alliance
An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare connections within countries. This branding may involve unified aircraft liveries of member aircraft.
Article
Airline alliance
An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare connections within countries. This branding may involve unified aircraft liveries of member aircraft.
In 2015, Star Alliance was the largest with 23% of total scheduled traffic in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs)/revenue passenger miles (RPMs), followed by SkyTeam with 20.4% and Oneworld with 17.8%, leaving 38.8% for others. In 2019, by number of passengers, Star Alliance was leading 762 million, followed by SkyTeam (630 million) and Oneworld (535 million).
Rationale
Airline alliance
Benefits can consist of an extended network, often realised through codeshare agreements. Many alliances started as only codeshare networks. Cost reductions come from sharing operation facilities (e.g. catering or computer systems), operation 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 can include lower prices due to lowered operational costs for a given route, different times to choose from, more destinations within easy reach, shorter travel times, more options of airport lounges shared with alliance members, fast track access on all alliance members if having frequent flyer status, faster mileage rewards by earning miles for a single account on several different carriers, round-the-world tickets, enabling travellers to fly over the world for a relatively low price.
Airline alliances may also create disadvantages for the traveller, such as higher prices when competition is erased on a certain route or less frequent flights; for instance, if two airlines separately fly three and two times a day respectively on a shared route, their alliance might fly less than 5 (3+2) times a day on the same route. This might be especially true between hub cities for each airline. e.g., flights between Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (a Delta Air Lines fortress hub) and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (a KLM fortress hub).
History
Airline alliance
The first airline alliance was formed in the 1930s, when Panair do Brasil and its parent company Pan American World Airways agreed to exchange routes to Latin America.
The first large alliance began in 1989, when Northwest Airlines and KLM agreed to large-scale codesharing. In 1992, the Netherlands signed the first open skies agreement with the United States, in spite of objections from the European Union, which gave both countries unrestricted landing rights on the other's soil. Normally landing rights are granted for a fixed number of flights per week to a fixed destination. Each adjustment requires negotiations, often between governments rather than between the companies involved. In return, the United States granted antitrust immunity to the alliance between Northwest Airlines and KLM. This alliance continues to exist today (as of 2025) with KLM as a SkyTeam member and Northwest's successor airline Delta also being a member. Other alliances would struggle for years to overcome the transnational barriers and lack of antitrust immunity, and still do so.
On May 14, 1997, an agreement was announced forming the Star Alliance with five airlines on three continents: United Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International, Air Canada, and Lufthansa. The alliance chose Young & Rubicam for advertising, with a budget of $25 million (€18 million). which brought competing airlines to form Oneworld in 1999 and SkyTeam in 2000.
In 2010 Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group, announced his intention to form a fourth alliance among Virgin branded airlines (Virgin Atlantic; Virgin America; and the Virgin Australia Holdings group of airlines). Then in September 2011, Branson said that Virgin Atlantic would join one of the existing alliances; this idea was repeated in October 2012. In December 2012, Delta Air Lines purchased Singapore Airlines' 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic for £224 million. Virgin America was absorbed into Alaska Airlines by 2018, which joined the Oneworld alliance in 2021. Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic joined SkyTeam in 2023.
On February 14, 2013, it was announced that American Airlines and US Airways would merge, retaining the American Airlines name and would remain in the Oneworld alliance. US Airways' participation in Star Alliance lapsed. In 2012, in South America, LAN Airlines and TAM Airlines began their merger. In March 2014, with the merger complete, TAM left Star Alliance and became part of LAN in Oneworld.
On September 21, 2015, the Vanilla Alliance was formed between several airlines based in the Indian Ocean region, in order to improve air connectivity within the region. The founding members were Air Austral, Air Mauritius, Air Madagascar, Air Seychelles, and Int'Air Îles.
U-FLY Alliance, the first alliance of low-cost carriers (LCCs), was formed in January 2016, comprising HK Express, Lucky Air, Urumqi Air, and West Air (all affiliated with HNA Group). In May 2016, the world's largest alliance of LCCs was formed, Value Alliance, including founding members Cebu Pacific, Cebgo, Jeju Air, Nok Air, NokScoot, Scoot, Tigerair, Tigerair Australia and Vanilla Air. Neither alliance remains active as of 2025.
Current alliances
Star Alliance
Three current members and one former member of Star Alliance at Tokyo Narita Airport Thai, United, Swiss and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), the latter moved to SkyTeam in 2024
Boeing 787-9 of All Nippon Airways
Star Alliance, founded in 1997, currently has 26 members:
Aegean Airlines, 2010 Air Canada, founder Air China, 2007 Air India, 2014 Air New Zealand, 1999 All Nippon Airways, 1999 Asiana Airlines, 2003 Austrian Airlines, 2000 Avianca, 2012 Brussels Airlines, 2009 Copa Airlines, 2012 Croatia Airlines, 2004 EgyptAir, 2008 Ethiopian Airlines, 2011 EVA Air, 2013 ITA Airways, 2026 LOT Polish Airlines, 2003 Lufthansa, founder Shenzhen Airlines, 2012 Singapore Airlines, 2000 South African Airways, 2006 Swiss International Air Lines, 2006 TAP Air Portugal, 2005 Thai Airways International, founder Turkish Airlines, 2008 United Airlines, founder
Star Alliance Intermodal Partnership
• Deutsche Bahn, 2022 • Austrian Federal Railways, 2025
Oneworld
Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-8
Oneworld, founded in 1999, currently has 15 members:
Alaska Airlines, 2021 American Airlines, founder British Airways, founder Cathay Pacific, founder Fiji Airways, 2025 Finnair, 1999 Iberia, 1999 Japan Airlines, 2007 Malaysia Airlines, 2013 Oman Air, 2025 Qantas, founder Qatar Airways, 2013 Royal Air Maroc, 2020 Royal Jordanian, 2007 SriLankan Airlines, 2014
• Hawaiian Airlines, 2026 • Starlux Airlines, 2026 or 2027
SkyTeam
Boeing 777-300ER of Garuda Indonesia
SkyTeam, founded in 2000, currently has 18 members:
Aerolíneas Argentinas, 2012 Aeroméxico, founder Air Europa, 2007 Air France, founder China Airlines, 2011 China Eastern Airlines, 2011 Delta Air Lines, founder Garuda Indonesia, 2014 Kenya Airways, 2007 KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, 2004 Korean Air, founder Middle East Airlines, 2012 Saudia, 2012 Scandinavian Airlines, 2024 TAROM, 2010 Vietnam Airlines, 2010 Virgin Atlantic, 2023 XiamenAir, 2012
Vanilla Alliance
ATR 72-500 of Air Mauritius.
Vanilla Alliance, founded in 2015, currently has 4 members:
Air Austral, founder Madagascar Airlines, founder Air Mauritius, founder Air Seychelles, founder
Int'Air Îles, founder, 2015–2024, defunct
Former alliances
U-FLY Alliance
U-FLY Alliance, founded in 2016, had 4 members:
Eastar Jet, 2016 Lucky Air, founder Urumqi Air, founder West Air, founder
• HK Express, 2016–2019, founder, acquired by Cathay Pacific in 2019.
Value Alliance
Value Alliance, founded in 2016, had 5 members:
Cebu Pacific, founder Cebgo, founder Jeju Air, founder Nok Air, founder Scoot, founder
• NokScoot, 2016–2020, defunct • Tigerair, 2016–2017, merged with Scoot • Tigerair Australia, 2016–2018, founder • Vanilla Air, 2016–2019, founder, merged with Peach Aviation
Statistics
Airline alliance
<table><thead><tr><th>Alliance</th><th>Members</th><th>Passengers /year</th><th>Countries served</th><th>Destination</th><th>Fleet</th><th>Employees</th><th>Revenue /year (US$)</th><th>Flights /day</th><th>RPK</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Star Alliance</td><td>26</td><td>642.1 Mn</td><td>195</td><td>1,360</td><td>5,000</td><td>432,603</td><td>179.05 Bn</td><td>19,000</td><td>1536 Bn</td><td>23%</td></tr><tr><td>SkyTeam</td><td>19</td><td>665.4 Mn</td><td>175</td><td>1,062</td><td>3,937</td><td>481,691</td><td>140.98 Bn</td><td>17,343</td><td>1362 Bn</td><td>20.4%</td></tr><tr><td>Oneworld</td><td>13</td><td>557.4 Mn</td><td>161</td><td>1,016</td><td>3,560</td><td>382,913</td><td>130.92 Bn</td><td>13,814</td><td>1189 Bn</td><td>17.8%</td></tr><tr><td>Value Alliance (defunct)</td><td>7</td><td>180 Mn</td><td>30</td><td>183</td><td>554</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>400</td><td>107 Bn</td><td>1.6%</td></tr><tr><td>U-FLY Alliance (defunct)</td><td>8</td><td>200 Mn</td><td>18</td><td>149</td><td>593</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>420</td><td>40 Bn</td><td>0.6%</td></tr><tr><td>Vanilla Alliance</td><td>5</td><td>2.3 Mn</td><td>26</td><td>89</td><td>46</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>
Airline alliance market share by network capacity 2007