Ita-Lufthansa, SAS-Air France, Air Europa-IAG: waltz of alliances, how they will change in the coming months

Here we go. After waiting so long for it, the big day has come: The marriage between ITA Airways, the Italian flag carrier, and Lufthansa, the German flag carrier, 'is to be done'.

Of course, we are only at the beginning: as already explained extensively, it will take years before Lufthansa acquires our flag carrier's 100%; just as it will take some time (not before the end of 2025) before ITA moves from SkyTeam to Star Alliance. 

How the arrangements of the 3 alliances will change

It is good to remember that there are 3 aviation alliances: Star Alliance (the longest established, founded in 1997) oneWorld (born a year later, in 1998) and SkyTeam (the youngest of the 3, which arose in 2000).

Star Alliance

Not only is the alliance longest-lived but it is also the more numerous. They are well 26 the member vectors: Aegean, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, CopaAirlines, Croatia Airlines, EgyptAir, Ethiopian, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Swiss, TAP Air Portugal, THAI, Turkish Airlines, United.

As is well known, As of next September 1, SAS will join SkyTeam: therefore the number of members will drop to 25 until ITA completes its move to Star Alliance.

oneWorld

Founded in 1998 by American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas, it is the alliance with the fewest members: 13. In addition to the 3 founding members, Alaska Airlines, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, and SriLankan Airlines are also members of OW.

The number of members, however, is set to rise: as we wrote a few weeks ago, within this year Oman Air will join oneWorld and by 2025 Fiji Airways will do the same; Fiji also recently announced that it will use AAdvantage, American Airlines' loyalty program.

SkyTeam

Established 24 years ago, in 2000, at the behest of Aéromexico, AirFrance, Delta Airlines and Korean Air, SkyTeam is the youngest Among the 3 alliances.

In total they are 19 the members, including the 4 founders-Aerolíneas Argentinas, Air Europa, China Airlines, China Eastern, Czech Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, ITA Airways, Kenya Airways, KLM, Middle East Airlines, Saudia, Tarom, Vietnam Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and Xiamen Air; then SAS will be added as of Sept. 1.

What will change for ITA after joining Star Alliance

"Once we leave SkyTeam we will enter Star Alliance, a procedure that normally takes about 12 months. In the meantime, however, we will activate the code-sharing mechanisms with the Lufthansa Group as soon as possible, which is essential for us to be able to sustain commercial activity," these are the words of Antonino Turicchi, president of ITA Airways, pronounced this morning during the press conference held with the CEO of Lufthansa, Carsten Spohr, and the Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti. 

Now one question remains: what will happen to ITA's frequent flyer, Volare? Will it be 'absorbed' by Lufthansa's Miles&More loyalty program? It is difficult, if not impossible, to make predictions in this regard. What is certain, however, is that initially the German group will enter ITA's shareholder base with a minority stake; one can, therefore, think of a merger of plans only when (and if) Lufthansa buys the 100% Of our national airline.

Until then, the two frequent flyers will, in all likelihood, remain separate-exactly what is happening in the SAS/Air France operation. 

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