Star Alliance will be expanding its Latin America presence after agreeing to accept Avianca-TACA and Copa Airlines as future members.
The combined network of the two airline groups will give Star Alliance a more prominent footprint in Central America, the Caribbean and the northern and western regions of South America, as well as additional direct connections between Latin America and cities in Europe.
“On behalf of the Chief Executive Board, it gives me great pleasure to invite Avianca-TACA and Copa Airlines to join the Star Alliance network. The addition of these two quality airline groups concludes a strategic process which increases the Alliance’s footprint in the vibrant, growing economies of Latin America,” said Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht. “The aviation landscape in this region is changing rapidly and alliances are playing an ever bigger role as Latin America continues to develop.”
Star Alliance passengers will in future have access to a large range of new destinations and flights connecting through the Copa Airlines hubs in Panama City and Bogota and the Avianca-TACA hubs in Bogota, San Salvador, Lima and San Jose, Costa Rica.
The addition of the two carrier groups is the culmination of a strategic process to extend Star Alliance’s reach in Latin America. This began with the addition of Continental Airlines just over a year ago, improving connections between North America and Central and South America. Further network expansion and improved connectivity to, from and within South America was made possible by the joining of TAM Airlines in May.
Avianca-TACA and Copa Airlines will bring 46 new destinations to the Star Alliance network. Once integration is complete, the customers of the 31 alliance members will have access to more than 22,500 daily flights serving 1,292 destinations in 188 countries.
Star Alliance member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Air India, Avianca-TACA, Copa Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines have been announced as future members.
