Leaders of the Star Alliance today said the partnership's corporate travel product would generate €1.5 billion (US$1.98 billion) in 2004 revenue from 35 consolidated global agreements. The anticipated revenue volume would be up 25 percent from 2003 levels.
"We've had three years of experience in simplifying the procurement of corporate travel by offering qualified clientele one point of contact, one agreement and one set of reports," said Jaan Albrecht, Star Alliance CEO, in a statement released during Star's board meeting today in Bangkok.
Albrecht was referring to the Corporate Plus framework Star has been developing to serve multinational corporate clients. Star competitors Oneworld and SkyTeam also court corporate buyers with joint programs, though the level of integration varies by market, dependent on whether involved carriers benefit from antitrust immunity.
Led by Lufthansa and United Airlines, the 15-member Star Alliance did not specifically identify any corporate clients other than ChevronTexaco, which signed a global alliance deal last month
(BTN, Dec. 6). Other Star Alliance customers as reported in this summer's Corporate Travel 100 include DaimlerChrysler and Hoffman-La Roche
(BTN, July 5). The alliance this fall also claimed Warner Music Australia as its first Australian corporate client
(BTNonline, Sept. 30).