engleski

The impact of alliances on international air traffic structure

There is a constantly growing tendency of allying among airlines with the aim of increasing traffic volume and of approaching profitable markets, to which, otherwise, they have limited access due to various, most often legal barriers (bilateral agreements, anti-trust legislation). The strength of connections among partners differs - from those which include equity holding arrangements to various marketing agreements. Code sharing agreement is the key elements of many airline alliances. The result is the integration of route networks, coordination of flight schedules, joint frequent flyer programs, same visual identity, sharing of computer reservation systems and a number of benefits for passengers, such as the possibility of one-stop reservations and check-in for all the flights of partner airlines. The analysis of positive and negative consequences of the global strategic alliances (e.g. Star Alliance, Oneworld Alliance, KLM/Northwest, Atlantic Excellence, Qualiflyer Group) on passengers, airlines, and the branch of economy as a whole, shows that in searching for the answer whether alliance represents a long-term solution for a certain company, all the limitations have to be carefully analyzed, all preconditions checked and the potential advantages for every alliance option assessed and compared. After a long-term successful cooperation between Croatia Airlines and Lufthansa in the field of maintaining the aircraft, training the pilots and in the computer technology, in April 1999 these two companies signed a code share agreement which will provide higher quality connections between the destinations in Germany and Croatia, and will enable Croatia Airlines to come closer to the Star Alliance association.

airline alliance; code share; antitrust immunity; open skies agreement

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