Finnair applies to join JAL-BA joint venture, strengthening the oneworld grouping against Star's JV

Finnair's pending entry to the British Airways-Japan Airlines Europe-Japan joint venture will give a much needed boost to the oneworld-led JV, whose share of the Europe-Japan market will increase from 16% to 23.5%. The JV encompassed European connections from British Airways, but the large point-to-point nature of the London-Tokyo market as well as the backtracking involved at Heathrow provided the JV its strongest hold between Japan and the UK.

A similar Star Alliance-led Europe-Japan JV was anchored by All Nippon Airways and Lufthansa, accounting for a quarter of the market. The addition in 2012 of fellow Lufthansa Group carriers Austrian and SWISS has boosted the JV's share 32.5%. Beyond market share, the Star JV was more effective at offering connections around continental Europe.

Finnair's addition is also a tidy conclusion to the flirtation between Finnair and JAL, which in Jul-2013 launched its own Tokyo-Helsinki service and wanted to tap into Finnair's geographically convenient hub. The closer ties between Finnair and BA follow Finnair's addition into the trans-Atlantic JV and BA's increasing admiration for Finnair's Asian strategy. There may be more to come from this relationship.