STAR Alliance members will outline future expansion plans and demonstrate the organisation’s new booking technology at Business Travel 2000.
All nine member airlines will be at the exhibition stand to talk to delegates about the consortium’s benefits and services which include priority check-in, frequent-flyer programmes, a dedicated Star Alliance City ticket office in central London and dedicated check-in desks at Paddington Station for passengers who are travelling to the airport on the Heathrow Express. Visitors to the stand can find out about the global distributions system display that allows agents to check schedule and availability of Star Alliance flights in a single display.
The Star Alliance airline network was set up by five carriers, United Airlines, SAS, Lufthansa, Thai International Airways and Air Canada, in 1997.
It has since signed up four more members, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, Ansett Australia and Varig, with a combined fleet of over 1,800 aircraft.
By the end of the year, the alliance will have signed up five more, British Midland, Lauda Air, Austrian Airlines, Tyrolean Airways and Singapore Airlines.