I knew it sounded too good be true — could Star Alliance really woo Royal Air Maroc into its alliance when it already was the dominant alliance in Africa? Would EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines, South African Airways, and Brussels Airlines really want more competition in their own backyard? Would oneworld really let one of the few remaining unclaimed carriers get away with such a gap in coverage to and within Africa? The answer is we will have to wait and see. Royal Air Maroc will not be joining Star Alliance…just yet.
> Read More: Royal Air Maroc to Join Star Alliance?
The source of this story was Le360.ma, a Moroccan online news site, which wrote a piece entitled Exclusif: La Ram Intégre Star Alliance. In the article (French), an “unnamed source” claims a choice between the three alliances has been made in favor of Star Alliance.
Star Alliance has denied that Royal Air Maroc is on the verge of being announced as a future Star Alliance member carrier, but has also said it will not comment on market speculation and rumor.
Let’s not read too much into that very careful choice of words, but instead keep in mind two things–
1. Royal Air Maroc is actively seeking membership into an alliance (see here)
2. For legal and practical reasons, there is no way Star Alliance could actually say yes if this were true.
We saw a similar occurrence when Air India re-applied for Star Alliance membership and leaked the info to the press well-before the agreed upon announcement date. Air India did indeed join Star Alliance.
I am not saying that Star Alliance and Royal Air Maroc will team up — we will have to wait and see. But it still would not surprise me, even if the announcement is not made for several months.
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