Mexicana, the newest star in the Star Alliance sky
Mexicana, the newest star in the Star Alliance sky The Star Alliance(TM) network is poised to grow again, with the announcement today that Mexicana Airlines, the leading airline of Mexico, plans to join the airline alliance next year. Mexicana's decision to join the Star Alliance network was announced on Wednesday evening at a gala event in Mexico City, attended by local dignitaries, members of the travel industry, airline customers, and the Chief Executive Officers of several of the Star Alliance member airlines. As one of the major carriers in the Latin American market, Mexicana will be an important addition to the Star Alliance network. By joining, it will offer greater frequency and convenience of flights to a number of popular travel destinations in Latin America, and make available to Star Alliance passengers worldwide many new destinations within Mexico. For customers of Mexicana, the decision to join the Star Alliance network opens the door to the convenience and rewards of belonging to the world's foremost airline alliance - one that brings together the leading airlines from every region of the world. The member airlines of the Star Alliance network are Air Canada; Air New Zealand; Ansett Australia; Lufthansa; Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS); Thai Airways International; United Airlines, and Varig Brazilian Airlines. All Nippon Airways (ANA) of Japan will become a member of the airline alliance in October. Among the key benefit to customers of Star Alliance airlines are Rewards and Recognition. Members of any Star Alliance frequent flyer program can accumulate and redeem mileage points on all scheduled flights operated by all member airlines. In addition, frequent flyer miles collected on paid qualifying Star Alliance flights count toward achieving top-tier status in the frequent flyer plan of the traveler's choice. All top-tier and middle-tier customers earn the designations of "Star Alliance Gold" and "Star Alliance Silver," respectively, which are recognized by all Star Alliance carriers and ensure that these customers receive the highest level of service at airports around the world. Since the creation of the Star Alliance network in May 1997, the member airlines have served some 400 million passengers, travelling across a combined network of more than 720 destinations in over 110 countries around the world. On average, a Star Alliance flight takes off somewhere on the globe every 10 seconds. Mexicana is one of the oldest airlines in the world. Founded in 1921, it now serves more than 7 million passengers annually, with flights to 29 cities in Mexico, eleven in the U.S., two in Canada, three in Central America, three in South America, and two in the Caribbean. SAS CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/07/30/20030730BIT01280/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/07/30/20030730BIT01280/wkr0002.pdf