SAS away from Star Alliance, Skyteam loses Czech, then it will be ITA's turn: how the international alliance reshuffle changes

August 31, passengers enrolled in the Eurobonus program will board flights Scandinavian Airlines between North America and Scandinavia as 'members' of Star Alliance and will disembark as 'members' of Skyteam. Past midnight on August 31, in fact, SAS will cease to be one of the 26 companies belonging to Star Alliance, to become the 20th company in the Skyteam alliance.

As is well known, the transition is the consequence of theAir France-KLM Group's acquisition of SAS's 20%, announced in October 2023 as part of the rescue plan for the Scandinavian carrier, which had applied for access to creditor protection in July 2022.

These are. a historical passage, both because of the size of the company (which has a fleet of 124 aircraft including those of SAS Connect and SAS Link), and because of the fact that in 1997 SAS was one of the founding members of Star Alliance along with United Airlines, Air Canada, Lufthansa and Thai Airways.

The Scandinavian carrier carried 21.1 million passengers in 2023. Its Eurobonus loyalty program, initiated in 1992 among the first in Europe and the world, today has more than 5 million members. Even after SAS's farewell, Star will still remain, by far, the largest among the big three international alliances, in terms of global market share, given the advantage over Skyteam and Oneworld.

As of last April, in fact, the 26 full member carriers and 41 affiliates of SA carried 17.4% of global passengers, compared with 13.7% for the 19 companies belonging to Skyteam and 11.9% for the 27 carriers (13 full members and 14 affiliates) under Oneworld.

The modalities of accumulation and use of points, as well as Eurobonus statuses will not changeand following the alliance change. Passengers with status Eurobonus Silver will no longer be Star Alliance Silver members, but Skyteam Elite. Those Eurobonus Gold and Diamond will become SkyTeam Elite Plus.

And the company will have to repaint two A319s now wearing white livery with 'Star Alliance' written on the fuselage.

A founding member will also lose Skyteam in the weeks to come When, as of Oct. 27, Czech Airlines will cease to exist and will be absorbed within Smartwings, the low-cost carrier that owns it. The carrier with the OK code had been among the founders of Skyteam in 2000 along with Air France, Delta Airlines, Korean Air and Aeromexico.

La End of negotiations for the acquisition of Air Europa by Iberia blurred, in recent weeks, the move of Spain's second-largest carrier from Skyteam (of which Air Europa is a member) to Oneworld (to which Iberia belongs instead).

But the 'reshuffling' phase of membership in the alliances will continue in 2025, with ITA Airways moving from Skyteam to Star Alliance, resulting from Lufthansa Group's entry into the Italian company with 41% of the capital. The transfer is expected to take place in the middle of next year.

Meanwhile, As of October 27, 2024, the framework of the three major international alliances will be as follows.

Star Alliance: Founded May 14, 1997, will count 26 members and 41 affiliated carriers, making available to its passengers nearly 1,300 destinations in 195 countries because of A combined fleet of just over 5,000 aircraft. The flights performed each day are more than 19,000.

Skyteam: Founded June 22, 2000, con will 19 airlines by making available to its passengers 1,050 destinations in 166 countries, served by a Combined fleet of just over 3,000 airplanes. The flights performed daily are. just under 11,000.

Oneworld: Founded February 1, 1999 count 13 members and 14 partner companies, connecting a total of just over 1,000 destinations in 170 countries with A combined fleet of about 3,300 aircraft. The flights operated daily by the alliance companies are. more than 13,000.

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