Air India finally to enter the Star Alliance. Lufthansa now looks to escalate Gulf carrier rhetoric

After being rejected by the Star Alliance only three years ago, Air India is now nearly ready for admission to the largest branded global alliance, according to an informal announcement by Star Alliance CEO Mark Schwab on 29-Apr-2014. Air India is expected to join the Alliance formally in Jul-2014.

This is partly a reward for the airline's substantial improvement, but mostly a barometer of the global industry, as the three Gulf carriers have come to dominate the international long-haul Indian market. For Star leader Lufthansa, the Indian market was for many years the jewel in its crown as, in a highly protected marketplace, the German flag dominated India's connecting traffic over its Frankfurt hub.

The recent rise of Emirates, Etihad (now with Jet Airways) and Qatar Airways in carrying Indian traffic over their highly effective hubs and across their diverse global networks has completely changed the shape of the Indian long-haul market, as it has in many other markets.

Lufthansa, the only one of Europe's big three to remain aloof from entwinement with a Gulf carrier, will be anxious to bring India's languishing but still powerful flag carrier into the Star fold; not quite at any cost, but still recognising that Air India has a long way to go before it regains its position as a serious competitor on the world stage. In the process, Lufthansa looks set to reinvigorate its anti-Gulf carrier rhetoric, putting any thought of an Emirates partnership behind it.