By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
SkyTeam, an 11-member airline alliance including Korean Air, held a governing board meeting, Thursday, at the Incheon Hyatt Regency Hotel. The world’s second-largest alliance of airlines will step up its partnership by expanding joint services and recruiting new members.
“The future of SkyTeam is highly dependent on the Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for one third of the world’s passengers and 45 percent of cargo traffic,” Korean Air Chairman and CEO Cho Yang-ho said in a keynote speech.
“To contribute to the improvement of SkyTeam services, Korean Air will diversify its international connections and adopt next generation aircraft, such as the A380 and the B787.”
The governing board agreed to start operating a common check-in counter and lounge for all SkyTeam members starting Nov. 9 at London’s Heathrow Airport.
The heads of eight SkyTeam members, including Delta Air President Richard H. Anderson and South China Airlines President Si Xian Min, participated in the meeting to discuss common issues of interest.
SkyTeam developed a new level of co-location at Heathrow’s Terminal 4 in October, the first airport in which all members will share kiosks, allowing passengers to access travel reservations with any of the alliance carriers.
The greater number and common-use feature of the kiosks will help improve passenger flow through the terminal, reduce congestion and reduce operating costs for member airlines, a publicist with Korean Air said. Heathrow Terminal 4 also features the first-ever co-branded lounge.
In December, the alliance will start running a separate organization to deal with joint marketing and branding strategies. The group is the second largest airline alliance in the world ― behind Star Alliance and ahead of Oneworld.
Skyteam will expand services in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe. The joining of Vietnam Airlines and Romania’s Tarom in 2010 will bring the total number of full member airlines in the alliance to 13.
The alliance offers its 384 million passengers a worldwide system of 13,133 daily flights covering 856 destinations in 169 countries.
With 40 co-locations added since 2000, it is now represented in Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Beijing, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Geneva, Istanbul, Lagos, Manchester, Mexico City, Munich, Milan-Malpensa, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Paris-Charles De Gaulle, Prague, Rome, Stuttgart, Tunis, Venice and Vienna.