By Sam Jakobi 
The Star Alliance is the world’s largest airline alliance, with 26 airlines. However, after a recent partnership, the Star Alliance has a new member, except this time, it isn’t an airline.
The History of the Star Alliance
The Star Alliance was formed by 5 airlines in 1997. Its purpose was to offer easy access and smooth transitions between flights. It can offer connections across the world, with the main airlines being Air India, Air New Zealand, United Airlines, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, and Swiss. With the airline alliance, you can travel to more than a whopping 1,200 destinations.
DB joins the Star Alliance
Deutsche Bahn, In case you hadn’t noticed from the German for “German Railway”, is Germany’s National Railway Company. In 2019, it transported an estimated 4.8 Billion People, equivalent to around 2 Thirds of the world’s population. DB officially joined the Star Alliance on August 1st, becoming its first inter-modal partner. The partnership also includes something excellent: If your train arrives late meaning that you’re late for your flight, the alliance automatically books you on to the next one.
Why has the train company joined?
DB has joined to take part in what most airline alliances do, Code Sharing. This means that airlines can book passengers onto another flight/train of another alliance member if that airline can’t operate the route themselves. DB can also get passengers to destinations that aren’t typically served by airlines. At the moment, DB is only connecting to Lufthansa (Germany’s Flag Carrier Airline), but this is expected to change soon.
Star Alliance says that it is hoping to add many more inter-modal partners in the future. As train companies in Europe develop more, the possibility of other alliances implementing Railway companies into their networks is becoming more and more likely.
Sources:
- staralliance.com
- thaiairways.com
- railtech.com
- thepointguy.co.uk
- loyaltylobby.com
- businesstravelnewseurope.com (Cover Image)
Sam Jakobi is a young aviation enthusiast based in London, UK. Sam writes articles and conducts interviews with members of the aviation community.
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Youssef Yahya