TAM Airlines and Turkish Airlines sign codeshare agreement

São Paulo, Brazil - TAM Airlines and Turkish Airlines, both members of the Star Alliance, have entered into a codeshare agreement that once in operation will increase the destinations on offer for their respective clients who travel from or to South America and Europe. With the bilateral agreement, each of the airlines can sell seats on certain designated flights operated by the partnership.

Initially TAM customers can purchase tickets for Istanbul directly from TAM. Turkish Airline clients, on the other hand, will be able to book flights operated by TAM to Brazilian destinations such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Porto Alegre and Foz do Iguaçu; and also to Buenos Aires in Argentina.

The destinations will be available for booking and purchase on the companies’ respective websites following the final approval of the aviation authorities in Brazil and Turkey. Currently, TAM’s own network offers 43 destinations in Brazil and 19 in Latin America, Europe and the United States – in addition the airline offers a further 92 international destinations through codeshare agreements.

When the codeshare agreement goes into effect, the partnership will allow TAM customers to travel directly between São Paulo and Istanbul on a flight operated by Turkish Airlines. In addition, it will also be possible to travel to-and-from Istanbul and São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, via London. Another option will be the route between São Paulo and Istanbul, via Madrid.

Star Alliance wings intensify battle for African Skies

Star Alliance has upped the battle for African skies by enlisting Ethiopian Airlines.

Ethiopian now becomes the third African airline after South African Airways and Egypt Air to join the alliance that boasts of 29 global carriers.

"With Ethiopian Airlines now part of the Star Alliance network, we offer our customers the widest choice of flights connecting to, from and within Africa," said Jaan Albrecht, the outgoing Star Alliance CEO.

Through its Star Alliance membership, the airline now offers customers the benefits of being a member of a global airline alliance with a world-wide reach via the extensive network, seamless travel and status recognition through the frequent flyer programmes.

"This new partnership will bring enormous choices and flexibility to our customers such as daily departures to more than 1,000 destinations and free use of lounges at a number of airports around the globe," said Tewolde GebreMariam, Ethiopian CEO.

The partnership will delivery more passengers to Ethiopian travelling to African destinations ferried by Star Alliance carriers.

"We now anticipate to grow passenger numbers more than the current 40 per cent annual growth," GebreMariam said.

The Star network was established in 1997 to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to travellers. The network offers more than 21,000 daily fights to 1,290 airports in 189 countries.

It is a common trend for airlines to team up in alliances to counter the cut-throat competition in the industry.

Other global alliances include Oneworld and Skyteam. National carrier Kenya Airways is a member of Skyteam, which comprises airlines such as Delta, China Eastern, KLM and Air France.

Following the Star Alliance partnership, Ethiopian Sheba Miles participants can now earn miles when flying on any Star Alliance Member carrier, with the collected miles counting towards achieving ShebaMiles Silver Club or Gold Club status.

The carrier will extend the Alliance Silver and Gold benefits to customers from other Star Alliance member carriers when they fly the airline.

Ethiopian Airlines helps Star Alliance grow African network

Star Alliance's stated intention of "bringing Africa to the world and the world to Africa" has been boosted by the entry of Ethiopian Airlines into its fold. The carrier formally joined the alliance in December, becoming its third African member.

The addition of Ethiopian expands Star's network in East, central and West Africa and brings with it 23 new destinations to its network. These include Chad, Djibouti and Niger. The carrier joins Star's existing partners in the region, EgyptAir and South African Airways.

"We have taken a large step forward in completing our African strategy," says Star Alliance outgoing chief executive Jan Albrecht. He says as a result of Ethiopian joining, Star now offers its passengers "the widest choice of flights connecting to, from and within Africa" out of the three global alliances. Star's African coverage now extends to 750 daily flights to more than 110 destinations in 48 countries.

Star Allliance partner Air China is looking to use these hubs to expand into what it sees as a promising market between Asia and Africa. Chairman Kong Dong says he expects his airline to launch direct routes to the continent in the next year or two.

Ethiopian is similarly effusive about the potential of this fledgling market and intends to develop further routes between Africa and Asia. Ethiopian's chief executive Teowolde Gebremariam says developing routes and frequencies between the two continents was the airline's principal growth objective.

He adds the Ethiopian flag carrier is studying possible routes to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul and will use its soon-to-be delivered Boeing 787s to open these routes and existing destinations in Asia. Ethiopian will take delivery of the first of ten 787s, which marked its debut appearance in Africa at the accession ceremony, in 2012.

Ethiopian Airlines Shows Star Alliance Logo

The flag carrier of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Airlines, is showing the Logo of star alliance on all its aircraft. Star Alliance will officially welcome Ethiopian airlines in ceremony to held on December 13 in Addis Ababa.

The ceremony is expected to be attended by executives of the Star Alliance and CEOs from the member airlines.

Ethiopian Airlines will be able to access 21,410 daily flights to 189 countries as part of an existing network consisting of 4382 aircraft, 409,152 employees and 652.24 million passengers per annum and 160.3 billion US dollars in sales revenue.

Ethiopia will increase its traffic flow as part of the alliance with pre-arranged domestic flight discount packages for passengers traveling from Star Alliance networks.

Ethiopian Airlines will standardize the services it offers to that of other members of the network to ensure seamless service across the member airlines of the Star Alliance.

Ethiopian Airlines is being mentored on joining the group by Lufthansa.

In related news Boeing has once again postponed its delivery of the Dreamliner aircraft. The aircraft manufacturer had already postponed its original delivery schedule to March of next year.

Ethiopia placed the order for ten Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft worth 1.5 billion US dollar in 2005, to be delivered in 2008-2010.

Boeing has launched the Boeing Dream Tour to promote the Dreamliner aircraft. It is expected that the tour will make a stop in Addis Ababa for a demonstration and test flight on December 11.

The tour will cover six countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Ethiopian Airlines to Become an Official Member of Star Alliance

Ethiopian Airlines will become an official member of Star Alliance in a ceremony to be held next month. It is expected that CEOs of the 27 members of Star Airlines and other aviation dignitaries will attend the ceremony.

Ethiopian Airlines is trying to select a day that will enable all CEO’s to attend the ceremony according to Wegayehu Terefe Public Relations Manager of Ethiopian Airlines.

The Airlines aims to mark the event with a lavish ceremony as it is a significant milestone in its efforts to become a world class airline said Wegayehu.

Star Alliance approved the membership application of Ethiopian Airlines in September of this year, making it the 28th member of the alliance.

Ethiopian Airlines will add five countries and 24 destinations to the Star Alliance Network when it is officially admitted in December.

Star Alliance was founded in 1997 b five leading airlines and sets high standards of customer service, technical infrastructure and security for airlines aspiring to membership.

In related news it is expected that the long awaited Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft will male a demonstration flight Addis Ababa in December. Sources claim that the Dreamliner will arrive in Addis Ababa on the 12th of December and depart on the 14th.

Ethiopian Airlines is expecting to receive Dreamliner aircraft next year. The aircraft will be used on flight routes between Africa and Asia.