I am hearing more and more from different sources in Australia that the evidence is pointing towards a huge shift in alliance loyalty in Asia... With QF working more and more with the Hainan Airlines (Hong Kong Airlines too), as well as the recent media launch of the HKG based JQ franchise... has CX had enough? Tell me what you think? Rumour or something that could actually be on the cards?
If CX thinks they have too much ow competition within Asia, joining Star would only make the situation worse. Cx's position within Asia - particularly with its China routes - puts it in a very strong position within OW. Within star, they'd be competing heavily into what I presume to be their highest growth market. That said, I'm sure they consider if they're in the right alliance periodically. No business should simply rest on their laurels. If the rumors are coming from Oz versus hkg however, they'd in general hold less water to me.
What about the Air China stake in CX, plus with AA now code sharing with Hainan, which airline really has a better future within mainland China? Certainly not HKG based CX or KA.
I think both Star and SkyTeam would be poor fits from a North American perspective. First, both alternatives have incumbent NA carriers with hubs in NRT and partners with hubs in northern Asia. Also, with no north America competition within OW to HKG, and with AA so weak in the region, I think that CX would receive more flow from AA than from either UA or DL.
Might be kind of the opposite - fliers with frequent needs to go to Asia select *A or ST as their alliance and not 1W.
Actually, that is precisely the point, and I don't think we are in disagreement. In oneworld CX is a big fish in a small pond. In Star or SkyTeam, there are umpteen different ways to get to Asian destinations from North America including DL's and UA's own metal. All CX would bring to either Star or SkyTeam that is not already effectively covered are some non-stops to HKG. So, the question for them is whether it is better to have an American partner that is weak in Asia so they can get both O&D to HKG and regional connecting traffic to onward destinations or is it better to join an alliance that is already strong in Asia where they would occupy a geographic position literally surrounded by alliance hubs. It seems to me that if they were to jump alliances, their position would not be too dissimilar to TG's in relation to SQ.
I would love to see the look on all the cheap Q class flyers currently milking American Airlines to death, when that happens. I hear Air Berlin has a new J class product, so it can't be that bad for them.
Not bad to see more airlines shifting to *A. More value I think... Most of OW's airlines are kind of expensive and with strict rules here and there....
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