The Government will soon talk to German carrier Lufthansa on Air India joining the global airline club, Star Alliance.
“The Government gave a lot of facilities to the airline (Lufthansa) that was mentoring us to join Star Alliance. Meanwhile, Air India also had some problems, which are now over. We are now going to talk to Lufthansa to adhere to the plan we had,” Minister for Civil Aviation Ajit Singh, said on Tuesday.
Air India started the process of joining Star Alliance in 2008, but in 2011, its membership was put on hold.
The issue is significant as Jet Airways has been approached by Star Alliance to join it ever since Air India’s membership ran into trouble. The Minister said there was no problem in two carriers from a single country joining the global alliance.
Air India has already paid €10 million (Rs 63 crore approximately) as joining fee. Joining the alliance may boost AI’s revenues by 10-15 per cent, as it would be able to reduce costs on airport infrastructure.
On joining the Star Alliance, senior Air India officials said, “It was now Air India or none.”
Star Alliance has leading carriers such as Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines as members. The alliance, formed in 1997, has 27 member airlines, including Air Canada, Thai Airways and Swiss, which jointly have a fleet of more than 4,000 aircraft serving 181 countries with 21,000 daily flights.