Maps of the 3 Alliances’ Countries & Hubs (Star Alliance, Oneworld, SkyTeam)

Star Alliance, SkyTeam, Oneworld. Three alliances with different advantages and disadvantages. An essential aspect, which is often forgotten, is the question regarding in which countries and regions these alliances are represented. While all three are present in the USA and are also more or less widespread in Europe, there are certain regions to which, with certain alliances, you can only fly with long (and expensive) detours.

Therefore, we want to show you, using the following six maps, in which countries the hubs of the alliances are located, and also in which cities these hubs are.

Star Alliance

The Star Alliance (especially through the Lufthansa Group) is well represented in Central Europe. It is also the strongest alliance in Central America and Asia. Domestic flights in Canada are also only available with the Star Alliance. Western Africa and South America are not particularly well covered, but the other alliances are not particularly convincing in those regions either. In Scandinavia, the alliance lost three hubs due to the exit of SAS.

SkyTeam

SkyTeam is well represented in Asia, but most of these airlines only offer relatively few connections to Europe. The same applies to e.g. Aerolíneas Argentinas in South America or MEA in the Middle East. Luckily, all of this is not only somewhat offset by the fact that Air France and KLM offer an enormous international route network, but also by the fact that the alliance’s presence in Europa has increased substantially in the past few years. ITA is operating quite successfully after its predecessor, Alitalia, had spent years in decline. Virgin Atlantic offers quite a lot of long-haul routes from the UK, and with SAS, one of Europe’s major airlines has joined the alliance. And even Air Europa can be useful for flights to South America.

Oneworld

Northern Africa is well represented at Oneworld, and Qatar Airways (the only “Big Three” airline in the Middle East that is an alliance member) also offers countless connections from Europe to most Asian countries. Domestic flights in Australia are also only possible with Oneworld. Since LATAM left, however, Oneworld is the only alliance that is not represented in South America at all. Domestic flights in China are also not available with Oneworld. In addition, the Oneworld route network in Central and Eastern Europe has been thinned out considerably since Airberlin went bankrupt.

Conclusion

In general, the Star Alliance is best spread out over the world. No wonder, after all, it is the alliance with the highest number of members. However, SkyTeam has caught up quite a bit in the past few years.

In South America and Africa, all alliances don’t offer a wide range of choices. Oneworld doesn’t even have a single airline in South America. Sometimes, however, one should not only pay attention to where the alliance members are based, but which destinations the European members fly to.

Cover Picture: CC0-Lizenz / Pixabay-User corgaasbeek