Star Alliance Gets a New Partner in Asia
Photo Credit: Staff from Star Alliance airlines welcome EVA Air to the Star Alliance family. The staff representatives pose on a stage specially created for the EVA Air joining ceremony, with an EVA Star Alliance branded aircraft as part of the backdrop. Star Alliance
Skift Take
Provisional partners are all the rage in the airline alliance community. Fiji last year joined Oneworld as an interim partner. Now, Thai Smiles is doing the same with the Star Alliance.
The Star Alliance, a group of 28 air carriers around the world, is expanding its reach into Asia. Early last week at the IATA Annual General Meeting in Seoul, the alliance announced the addition of Thai Smile to the network as a Connect partner.
Within the Star Alliance, Connect partners aren't full members. Instead airlines like Thai Smile extend operating and loyalty partnerships to three or more connecting member airlines and act as a sort of provisional partner. Membership fees as well are less intensive for Connect partners, which is helpful for smaller operations.
Thai Smile and Star's news comes as alliances around the globe explore new
