Juneyao Airlines to join Star Alliance for overseas routes

Bloomberg

Juneyao Airlines Co., which currently only flies narrowbody jets from Airbus Group SE, is considering buying 10 widebody aircraft by 2020 to expand international routes.
The planes could come from Airbus or Boeing Co., Juneyao Chairman Wang Junjin said on Monday. The carrier hasn’t placed any orders, Wang said at a briefing in Shanghai on its plans to join a partnership under the Star Alliance network.
Asian airlines have placed aircraft orders worth tens of billions of dollars as the region is expected to become the world’s leading travel market, driven by economic growth, according to a Boeing prediction. Juneyao is in talks to join Star Alliance’s Connecting Partner Model, a partnership that would expand the alliance’s reach through low-cost airlines and also increase the Chinese carrier’s access to destinations outside its home market.
Juneyao is interested in models such as Boeing’s 787 and the A350 from Airbus and will make a decision as early as this year, Wang said. The carrier won’t consider the A380, given its cost and lower fuel-efficiency, he said.
Juneyao, which started out as a budget carrier in 2006, has expanded its services beyond low fares to include free baggage allowances. The airline will begin services as a Connecting Partner in the second quarter of 2017, Wang said.

Route Connectivity
Star Alliance announced the Connecting Partner Model in December and named South African budget carrier Mango as its first member. Carriers joining the partnership won’t become a member of Star Alliance itself. The partnership allows those travelling on a flight of a Star Alliance member to connect to a route on a partner airline and enjoy the same
alliance benefits.
Asian budget airlines are grouping in the face of increased competition after numerous low-cost carriers were established in the past five years as rising incomes and discounted fares lured first-time travelers in Asia. Singapore Airlines Ltd.’s Tigerair and Scoot are part of the Value Alliance announced in May, after four Chinese airlines affiliated with China’s HNA Group formed the U-FLY Alliance in January and subsequently added South Korean budget airline Eastar Jet.
The Asian budget-carrier alliances have so far excluded the region’s biggest low-cost airlines including Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd., India’s IndiGo and China’s Spring Airlines Co.