Passenger Transportation - Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies - page 101

TABLE 5.2 Top Twenty World Airlines by Passenger Revenue, 2009

Rank Airline Passenger Revenue ($000,000)

1 Air France-KLM $23,314

2 Lufthansa 22,598

3 Delta 18,522

4 American 15,037

5 United 11,910

6 British Airways 10,548

7 Southwest 9,892

8 Qantas 9,336

9 Continental 9,244

10 ANA 9,117

11 Emirates 8,981

12 Air Canada 8,099

13 Singapore 7,633

14 China Southern 7,322

15 U.S. Airways 6,752

16 Air China 6,245

17 Cathay Paci c 5,921

18 Thai Airways 5,599

19 Iberia 4,765

20 Korean Air 4,686

Source: Business Travel News.

alliances have been debated since KLM and Northwest linked in 1992. United has the Star Alliance
(created in May 1997), which originally included Lufthansa, Air Canada, Thai Airways, and SAS. Since
then, Star Alliance has added Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana
Airlines, Austrian, Blue 1, bmi British Midland, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines,
EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair,
SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, and U.S. Airways. Through membership in
the Star Alliance, United provides connections to 11,160 destinations in 181 countries worldwide
( www.staralliance.com ).
SkyTeam is the global alliance partnering Aero ot, Aeromexico, AirEuropa, Air France

KLM,
Alitalia, China Southern, Czech Airlines, Delta, Kenya Airways, Korean Air, TAROM, and Vietnam
Airlines. Through one of the world

-

s most extensive hub networks, SkyTeam offers its passengers
a worldwide system of more than 13,000 daily flights covering 898 destinations in 169 countries
( www.skyteam.com ).
American and British Airways have launched a global alliance with Cathay Paci c Airways, Finnair,
Iberia, Japan Airlines, Lan, Malev, Mexicana, Qantas, and Royal Jordanian, and S7 Airlines called
Oneworld ( www.oneworld.com ). They also plan to expand the grouping. There are other alliances and
partners too numerous to mention, but the alliances cited indicate the high level of concentration
present.
More alliances and more consolidations are the wave of the future in the airline industry as
alliances continue to add new members, and merger talks take place, resulting in more consolidation.
In September 2010, Southwest Airlines announced plans to acquire smaller rival AirTran in a
$1.4 billion cash and stock deal that re ects the intensifying consolidation in the industry, expected

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