Air India played host to the first ever Star Alliance Chief Executive Board Meeting (CEB) held in India. Speaking to media, Rohit Nandan, CMD, Air India, thanked all CEOs for traveling to India and for a productive two-day meeting. He emphasized that for Air India membership in Star Alliance it is a key pillar of the airline’s turnaround strategy, along with the fleet renewal, network optimization, and an initiative to improve quality of service.
Post joining Star Alliance, Air India has already seen positive effects from its membership. The airline has seen an increase of 33 per cent in the number of passengers transferring between Air India and other Star Alliance member carriers, mainly through Delhi or Mumbai but also at other airports such as London or Newark.
Air India sees further opportunities to increase transfer traffic in Delhi and Mumbai and is working with Star Alliance. Nandan further commented that he was optimistic that Heathrow Airport would look positively on Air India’s request to join the other 23 Star Alliance member carriers now operating out of the new Terminal 2 – the Queen’s Terminal. “London is our main destination in Europe and anything we can do to offer better transfer facilities would be a real gain for us and Star Alliance.”
Mark Schwab, Star Alliance CEO, reiterated the importance of having Air India in Star Alliance. “India is the world’s fifth largest domestic aviation market and will continue to grow both domestically and internationally. It is therefore essential for Star Alliance to have a strong presence in this market”.
In closing, Calin Rovinescu, President and CEO of Air Canada and current Chairman of the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board, thanked both Nandan and Schwab, especially for achieving the Air India integration in record time.
