Ethiopian Airlines to be fully integrated into Star Alliance Group at the end of Oct/early Nov-2011

Ethiopian Airlines (ET) is to be fully integrated into the Star Alliance Group at the end of Oct-2011 or early Nov-2011, according to an Addis Fortune report. The process has taken a little over a year and cost the carrier USD6.9 million, with the carrier fulfilling 83 components to become a member. The major component was IT compliance, he added, with Ethiopian using a Sabre system to connect to the Star Alliance central system.

Lufthansa Airlines was appointed as a mentor to Ethiopian Airlines to help with the integration process. "As Lufthansa knows us better than any of the other member carriers, it was selected as a mentor for ET. They have been guiding us on how to go about the process with Star Alliance and each carrier," CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said.