New Delhi: Air India has joined the Star Alliance group of airlines, a spokesman of the national carrier said Tuesday.
After talks in London Monday, Air India and Star Alliance officials arrived at the decision on the airline’s affiliation.
The Alliance membership will allow Air India to share routes with the other airlines to more than 1,200 destinations and in the process will help improve its revenue.
Air India was originally accepted as a future member of Star Alliance in December 2007, but the integration process was halted in July 2011.  The suspension was a joint decision which allowed Air India to focus on completing its merger with Indian Airlines, without the distraction of the work required for full integration into the Star Alliance network.
Star Alliance is the world’s largest global airline alliance, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The  network offers more than 21,900 daily flights to 1,328 airports in 195 countries.
The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. The  present members of the alliance are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways.