Heathrow Terminal 2 - The new home of Star Alliance

Heathrow Airport allows all Star Alliance carriers to move under one roof

LONDON, UK, Dec. 11, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Star Alliance commends today's announcement by Heathrow Airport to designate Terminal 2 as the new home for its member carriers serving one of the world's most important international airports.

"We are delighted by today's decision, which gives the green light for creating a new travel experience for our customers and allows our members airlines to operate an efficient hub in London," said Mark Schwab, CEO Star Alliance. "After many years of intensive planning for a world leading alliance terminal together with Colin Matthew's team at Heathrow, we can now shift into implementation mode."

Star Alliance is the second largest alliance grouping at the UK's most important trade and tourism gateway, offering more than 21 per cent of all available seat capacity from the airport.

Now the way is clear for the creation of a true alliance terminal, which will offer many innovative features. The latest technology as well as integrated facilities and aligned processes among the member carriers will contribute to significantly improve the traveller's experience. Moreover, having all Star Alliance members collocated in Terminal 2 will allow the minimum connecting time between flights to be halved to just 45 minutes, thereby increasing the number of possible flight connections by 31 per cent.

Once the new Terminal 2 opens in 2014, the 23 Star Alliance member carriers operating at Heathrow will move in various stages from their current locations.

For further information on the Heathrow Terminal 2 project, please see: http://www.heathrowairport.com/about-us/rebuilding-heathrow/heathrow's-new-terminal-2

About Star Alliance:

The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, TACA Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. EVA Air has been announced as future member. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers more than 21,900 daily flights to 1,329 airports in 194 countries.

SOURCE: STAR ALLIANCE