Airline alliance

Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare connections within countries.

[6] Traveler benefits can include lower prices due to lowered operational costs for a given route, different times to choose from, more destinations within easy reach, shorter travel times, more options of airport lounges shared with alliance members, fast track access on all alliance members if having frequent flyer status, faster mileage rewards by earning miles for a single account on several different carriers, round-the-world tickets, enabling travellers to fly over the world for a relatively low price.

[8][9][10] The first airline alliance was formed in the 1930s, when Panair do Brasil and its parent company Pan American World Airways agreed to exchange routes to Latin America.

[citation needed] The first large alliance began in 1989, when Northwest Airlines and KLM agreed to large-scale codesharing.

In 1992, the Netherlands signed the first open skies agreement with the United States, in spite of objections from the European Union, which gave both countries unrestricted landing rights on the other's soil.

In return, the United States granted antitrust immunity to the alliance between Northwest Airlines and KLM.

[16] In December 2012, Delta Air Lines purchased Singapore Airlines' 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic for £224 million.

In March 2014, with the merger complete, TAM left Star Alliance and became part of LAN in Oneworld.