National carrier Air India will get cheaper fuel at major international stations once it joins Star Alliance. The formal joining is expected next month.

The alliance buys fuel for all its members, which helps them get discounts. “It will be available at all hubs such as London, Frankfurt, Chicago, New York and where ever Star Alliance is present in a big way,” Air India CMD Rohit Nandan told Business Line here.

As a member of the alliance, passengers travelling on Air India can get access to lounges of other member airlines at various airports. It will also help in getting better connectivity and better usages of loyalty programmes.

Meeting conditions

Air India was originally accepted as a future member of Star Alliance in December 2007, but the integration process was halted in July 2011. The suspension was a joint decision that allowed Air India to focus on completing its merger with Indian Airlines, without the distraction of the work required for full integration into the Star Alliance network.

Finally, in December last year, the suspension was revoked. Apart from Air India, Avianca from Brazil will be the other new member of the alliance, which currently has 27 members, including Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, United Airlines and Swiss Air.

Nandan said he was not averse to any other Indian airline joining the alliance. It may be noted that when Air India’s candidature was suspended in 2011, it was said Jet could become an alliance member. Though there is no decision yet, this has not been ruled out completely. Nandan, however, could not give the exact date of joining. He said the Central Executive Board of the alliance will meet on June 23 and finalise the formalities. “Once that is through, we plan to have a bigger function in Delhi.”At present, there are three major airline alliances in the world—Star, One World and Sky Team. Star is considered to be the biggest with over 26 per cent market share.

Nandan said the direct flight for Rome is scheduled to start on June 6, after which the Moscow flight is set to resume. He added non-stop flights to the US were now meeting the cash cost. Air India currently has 105 aircraft and operates over 400 flights.

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