SkyTeam Cargo is a global cargo alliance in which all members are also members of the SkyTeam airline alliance . SkyTeam Cargo is the largest cargo alliance; it competes with the WOW Alliance .
40-576: Following the founding of the airline alliance SkyTeam on 22 June 2000, the creation of its cargo division, SkyTeam Cargo , was announced in September that year. The alliance's inaugural members were Aeroméxico Cargo , Air France Cargo , Delta Air Logistics , and Korean Air Cargo , whose passenger airline operations are members of SkyTeam. In 2001, Czech Airlines Cargo and Alitalia Cargo joined in April and August, respectively. Both divisions joined
80-445: A non-stop basis. This system contrasts with the point-to-point model , in which there are no hubs and nonstop flights are instead offered between spoke cities. Hub airports also serve origin and destination (O&D) traffic. The hub-and-spoke system allows an airline to serve fewer routes, so fewer aircraft are needed. The system also increases passenger loads; a flight from a hub to a spoke carries not just passengers originating at
120-695: A budget of $ 25 million (€18 million). which brought competing airlines to form Oneworld in 1999 and SkyTeam in 2000. In 2010 Richard Branson , chairman of the Virgin Group , announced his intention to form a fourth alliance among Virgin branded airlines ( Virgin Atlantic ; Virgin America ; and the Virgin Australia Holdings group of airlines). Then in September 2011, Branson said that Virgin Atlantic would join one of
160-409: 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
200-576: A hub, the airline still refers to it as a focus city. A fortress hub exists when an airline controls a significant majority of the market at one of its hubs. Competition is particularly difficult at fortress hubs. As of 2012 , examples included Delta Air Lines at Atlanta , Detroit , Minneapolis/St. Paul and Salt Lake City ; American Airlines at Charlotte , Dallas Fort Worth , Miami , and Philadelphia ; and United Airlines at Houston–Intercontinental , Newark and Washington-Dulles . Flag carriers have historically enjoyed similar dominance at
240-466: A package through Oakland International Airport when shipping packages between destinations near Seattle and Phoenix, Arizona instead of sending deliveries through the Memphis Superhub . A given hub's capacity may become exhausted or capacity shortages may occur during peak periods of the day, at which point airlines may be compelled to shift traffic to a reliever hub. A reliever hub has
280-484: A passenger transit period, repeat a similar process for departure to the final destination of each plane. In past, Air India operated a scissor hub at London's Heathrow Airport , where passengers from Delhi , Ahmedabad , and Mumbai could continue onto a flight to Newark . Until its grounding, Jet Airways operated a similar scissor hub at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to transport passengers from Bangalore , Mumbai and Delhi to Toronto-Pearson and vice versa. At
320-474: A precursor is a bilateral treaty between two country pairs. WestJet used to utilize St. John's as a scissor hub during its summer schedule for flights inbound from Ottawa , Toronto , and Orlando and outbound to Dublin and London–Gatwick . Qantas similarly used to utilize Los Angeles International Airport as a scissor hub for flights inbound from Melbourne, Brisbane or Sydney, where passengers could connect onwards if traveling to New York–JFK . In
360-619: A relatively low price. Airline alliances may also create disadvantages for the traveller, such as higher prices when competition is erased on a certain route or less frequent flights; for instance, if two airlines separately fly three and two times a day respectively on a shared route, their alliance might fly less than 5 (3+2) times a day on the same route. This might be especially true between hub cities for each airline. e.g., flights between Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (a Delta Air Lines fortress hub ) and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (a KLM fortress hub). The first airline alliance
400-548: A similar model of business with its hubs at Frankfurt Airport and Munich Airport . Generally speaking, a marginal majority of the airline's long-haul flights are based out of Frankfurt, while a similarly sized but smaller minority are based out of Munich. In past history, carriers have maintained niche, time-of-day operations at hubs. The most notable was America West 's use of McCarran International Airport (now named after longtime Nevada Senator Harry Reid ) in Las Vegas as
440-633: Is a frequent stop-over hub for many cargo airlines flying between Asia and North America. Most cargo airlines only stop in Anchorage for refueling and customs, but FedEx and UPS frequently use Anchorage to sort trans-pacific packages between regional hubs on each continent in addition to refueling and customs. Passenger airlines that operate in a similar manner to the FedEx and UPS hubs are often regarded as scissor hubs , as many flights to one destination all land and deplane passengers simultaneously and, after
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#1732765970661480-569: Is an airport used by one or more airlines to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations. Hubs serve as transfer (or stop-over) points to help get passengers to their final destination. It is part of the hub-and-spoke system . An airline may operate flights from several non-hub (spoke) cities to the hub airport, and passengers traveling between spoke cities connect through the hub. This paradigm creates economies of scale that allow an airline to serve (via an intermediate connection) city-pairs that could otherwise not be economically served on
520-850: Is the main hub for an airline. However, as an airline expands operations at its primary hub to the point that it experiences capacity limitations, it may elect to open secondary hubs. Examples of such hubs are Air Canada 's hubs at Montréal–Trudeau and Vancouver , British Airways ' hub at London–Gatwick , Air India 's hub at Mumbai and Lufthansa 's hub at Munich . By operating multiple hubs, airlines can expand their geographic reach. They can also better serve spoke–spoke markets, providing more itineraries with connections at different hubs. Cargo airlines like FedEx Express and UPS Airlines also operate secondary hubs to an extent, but these are primarily used to serve regional high-demand destinations because shipping packages through its main hub would waste fuel; an example of this would be FedEx transiting
560-497: The airline industry, a focus city is a destination from which an airline operates limited point-to-point routes. A focus city primarily caters to the local market rather than to connecting passengers. Although the term focus city is used to mainly refer to an airport from which an airline operates limited point-to-point routes, its usage has loosely expanded to refer to a small-scale hub as well. For example, even though JetBlue 's operations at New York–JFK resemble that of
600-560: The largest airline in the world . China Southern Airlines joined the cargo alliance by November 2010. By November 2013, Aerolíneas Argentinas , one of the leading South American carriers, joined the SkyTeam Cargo Alliance adding more than 30 Latin American destinations to the global network. As of October 2024, SkyTeam Cargo has 9 active member airlines; some do not operate dedicated cargo aircraft, they offer space in
640-609: 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. Normally landing rights are granted for a fixed number of flights per week to a fixed destination. Each adjustment requires negotiations, often between governments rather than between the companies involved. In return,
680-723: The Oneworld alliance. US Airways' participation in Star Alliance lapsed. In 2012, in South America, LAN Airlines and TAM Airlines began their merger. In March 2014, with the merger complete, TAM left Star Alliance and became part of LAN in Oneworld. On September 21, 2015, the Vanilla Alliance was formed between several airlines based in the Indian Ocean region, in order to improve air connectivity within
720-508: The United States granted antitrust immunity to the alliance between Northwest Airlines and KLM. Other alliances would struggle for years to overcome the transnational barriers and lack of antitrust immunity, and still do so. On May 14, 1997, an agreement was announced forming the Star Alliance with five airlines on three continents: United Airlines , Scandinavian Airlines , Thai Airways International , Air Canada , and Lufthansa . The alliance chose Young & Rubicam for advertising, with
760-456: The United States is achieved through airport location and hub dominance. The top 10 megahubs in the US are dominated by American Airlines , Delta Air Lines and United Airlines , the three largest United States–based airlines. Airlines may operate banks of flights at their hubs, in which several flights arrive and depart within short periods of time. The banks may be known as "peaks" of activity at
800-630: The aspirations of UAE Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to transform the latter into a world-class metropolis. Sheikh Mohammed proceeded to establish a new airline based in Dubai, Emirates , which launched operations in 1985. Elsewhere in the Middle East region, Qatar and Oman decided to create their own airlines as well. Qatar Airways and Oman Air were both founded in 1993, with hubs at Doha and Muscat respectively. As
840-590: The baggage compartments of their passenger aircraft only. As of December 2023, following cargo airline suspended SkyTeam Cargo. As of December 2023, following cargo airline left SkyTeam Cargo. Airline alliance An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare connections within countries. This branding may involve unified aircraft liveries of member aircraft. In 2015, Star Alliance
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#1732765970661880-582: The cargo alliance within days of CSA Czech Airlines (25 March) and Alitalia (27 July) joining SkyTeam. KLM Cargo joined SkyTeam Cargo in September 2004, four months after the merger of Air France and KLM , which subsequently created the Air France-KLM holding company. The following year, in September, Northwest Airlines Cargo joined the cargo alliance, a move which came one year after Northwest Airlines joined SkyTeam. However, on 14 April 2008, Northwest merged with Delta Air Lines , which led to
920-554: The deregulation of the air cargo industry in the United States. The system has created an efficient delivery system for the airline. UPS Airlines has followed a similar pattern in Louisville. In Europe, ASL Airlines , Cargolux and DHL Aviation follow a similar strategy and operate their primary hubs at Liège , Luxembourg and Leipzig respectively. Additionally, Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska ,
960-557: The development of traditional hubs, such as London-Heathrow , Paris-Charles de Gaulle , and New York-JFK . A cargo hub is an airport that primarily is operated by a cargo airline that uses the hub-and-spoke system. In the United States , two of the largest cargo hub airports, FedEx 's Memphis Superhub and UPS Louisville Worldport , are close to the mean center of the United States population . FedEx's airline, FedEx Express , established its Memphis hub in 1973, prior to
1000-618: The existing alliances; this idea was repeated in October 2012. In December 2012, Delta Air Lines purchased Singapore Airlines' 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic for £224 million. Virgin America was absorbed into Alaska Airlines , which joined the Oneworld alliance in 2021. On February 14, 2013, it was announced that American Airlines and US Airways would merge, retaining the American Airlines name and would remain in
1040-472: The gain in connecting passengers would outweigh the rise in costs. For example, the hub of Qatar Airways in Doha Airport has 471 daily movements to 140 destinations by March 2020 with an average of 262 seats per movement; in three main waves: 05:00–09:00 (132 movements), 16:00–21:00 (128) and 23:00–03:00 (132), allowing around 30 million connecting passengers in 2019. Before the US airline industry
1080-647: The governments of Bahrain , Oman , Qatar and the United Arab Emirates took control of Gulf Air from the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). Gulf Air became the flag carrier of the four Middle Eastern nations. It linked Oman, Qatar and the UAE to its Bahrain hub, from which it offered flights to destinations throughout Europe and Asia. In the UAE, Gulf Air focused on Abu Dhabi rather than Dubai , contrary to
1120-451: The hub, but also passengers originating at multiple spoke cities. However, the system is costly. Additional employees and facilities are needed to cater to connecting passengers. To serve spoke cities of varying populations and demand, an airline requires several aircraft types, and specific training and equipment are necessary for each type. In addition, airlines may experience capacity constraints as they expand at their hub airports. For
1160-405: The hubs and the non-banks as "valleys". Banking allows for short connection times for passengers. However, an airline must assemble many resources to cater to the influx of flights during a bank, and having several aircraft on the ground at the same time can lead to congestion and delays. In addition, banking could result in inefficient aircraft utilisation, with aircraft waiting at spoke cities for
1200-2247: The main international airport of their countries and some still do. Examples include Aeromexico in Mexico City , Air Canada in Toronto–Pearson , Air France in Paris–Charles de Gaulle , British Airways in London–Heathrow , Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong , Copa Airlines in Panama City , Emirates in Dubai , Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa , Finnair in Helsinki , Iberia in Madrid , Japan Airlines in Tokyo-Haneda , Iran Air in Imam Khomeini , ITA Airways in Rome , Aeroflot in Moscow–Sheremetyevo , Korean Air at Seoul–Incheon , KLM in Amsterdam , Lufthansa in Frankfurt , Qantas in Sydney , Qatar Airways in Doha , Singapore Airlines in Singapore , South African Airways in Johannesburg , Swiss International Air Lines in Zurich , TAP Air Portugal in Lisbon , Turkish Airlines in Istanbul , and Aegean Airlines in Athens . A primary hub
1240-799: The new airlines grew, their home nations relied less on Gulf Air to provide air service. Qatar withdrew its share in Gulf Air in 2002. In 2003, the UAE formed another national airline, Etihad Airways , which is based in Abu Dhabi. The country exited Gulf Air in 2006, and Oman followed in 2007. Gulf Air therefore became fully owned by the government of Bahrain. Emirates , Qatar Airways , Saudia and Etihad Airways have since established large hubs at their respective home airports. The hubs, which benefit from their proximity to large population centres, have become popular stopover points on trips between Europe and Asia, for example. Their rapid growth has impacted
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1280-515: The next bank. Instead, some airlines have debanked their hubs, introducing a "rolling hub" in which flight arrivals and departures are spread throughout the day. This phenomenon is also known as "depeaking". While costs may decrease, connection times are longer at a rolling hub. American Airlines was the first to depeak its hubs, trying to improve profitability following the September 11 attacks . It rebanked its hubs in 2015, however, feeling
1320-406: The passenger, the hub-and-spoke system offers one-stop air service to a wide array of destinations. However, it requires having to regularly make connections en route to their final destination, which increases travel time. Additionally, airlines can come to monopolise their hubs (fortress hubs), allowing them to freely increase fares as passengers have no alternative. High domestic connectivity in
1360-471: The peak of operations at their former scissor hub at Brussels prior to the 2016 shift to Schiphol, flights operated from Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai and continued onward to Toronto, New York , and Newark after a near-simultaneous stopover in Brussels and vice versa. An international scissor hub could be used for third and fourth freedom flights or it could be used for fifth freedom flights, for which
1400-721: The potential to serve several functions for an airline: it can bypass the congested hub, it can absorb excess demand for flights that could otherwise not be scheduled at the congested hub, and it can schedule new O&D city pairs for connecting traffic. One of the most recognized examples of this model is Delta Air Lines ' and American Airlines ' uses of LaGuardia Airport as a domestic hub in New York City , due to capacity and slot restrictions at their hubs at John F. Kennedy International Airport . Many regional flights operate out of LaGuardia, while most international and long-haul domestic flights remain at JFK. Lufthansa operates
1440-423: The region. The founding members are Air Austral , Air Mauritius , Air Madagascar , Air Seychelles , and Int'Air Îles . On January 18, 2016, the first alliance of low-cost carriers was formed, U-FLY Alliance . The founding members— HK Express , Lucky Air , Urumqi Air , and West Air —are all affiliated with HNA Group , although the alliance is also seeking airlines not within the group. On May 16, 2016,
1480-3857: The world's largest alliance of low-cost carriers was formed, Value Alliance . The founding members were Cebu Pacific , Cebgo , Jeju Air , Nok Air , NokScoot , Scoot Airlines , Tigerair , Tigerair Australia , and Vanilla Air . Star Alliance , founded in 1997, currently has 25 members: [REDACTED] Aegean Airlines , 2010 [REDACTED] Air Canada , founder [REDACTED] Air China , 2007 [REDACTED] Air India , 2014 [REDACTED] Air New Zealand , 1999 [REDACTED] All Nippon Airways , 1999 [REDACTED] Asiana Airlines , 2003 [REDACTED] Austrian Airlines , 2000 [REDACTED] Avianca , 2012 [REDACTED] Brussels Airlines , 2009 [REDACTED] Copa Airlines , 2012 [REDACTED] Croatia Airlines , 2004 [REDACTED] EgyptAir , 2008 [REDACTED] Ethiopian Airlines , 2011 [REDACTED] EVA Air , 2013 [REDACTED] LOT Polish Airlines , 2003 [REDACTED] Lufthansa , founder [REDACTED] Shenzhen Airlines , 2012 [REDACTED] Singapore Airlines , 2000 [REDACTED] South African Airways , 2006 [REDACTED] Swiss International Air Lines , 2006 [REDACTED] TAP Air Portugal , 2005 [REDACTED] Thai Airways International , founder [REDACTED] Turkish Airlines , 2008 [REDACTED] United Airlines , founder Former members: Oneworld , founded in 1999, currently has 13 members: [REDACTED] Alaska Airlines , 2021 [REDACTED] American Airlines , founder [REDACTED] British Airways , founder [REDACTED] Cathay Pacific , founder [REDACTED] Finnair , 1999 [REDACTED] Iberia Airlines , 1999 [REDACTED] Japan Airlines , 2007 [REDACTED] Malaysia Airlines , 2013 [REDACTED] Qantas , founder [REDACTED] Qatar Airways , 2013 [REDACTED] Royal Air Maroc , 2020 [REDACTED] Royal Jordanian , 2007 [REDACTED] SriLankan Airlines , 2014 Former members: Future members: SkyTeam , founded in 2000, currently has 19 members: [REDACTED] Aerolíneas Argentinas , 2012 [REDACTED] Aeroméxico , founder [REDACTED] Air Europa , 2007 [REDACTED] Air France , founder [REDACTED] China Airlines , 2011 [REDACTED] China Eastern Airlines , 2011 [REDACTED] Delta Air Lines , founder [REDACTED] Garuda Indonesia , 2014 [REDACTED] ITA Airways , 2021 [REDACTED] Kenya Airways , 2007 [REDACTED] KLM Royal Dutch Airlines , 2004 [REDACTED] Korean Air , founder [REDACTED] Middle East Airlines , 2012 [REDACTED] Saudia , 2012 [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Scandinavian Airlines , 2024 [REDACTED] TAROM , 2010 [REDACTED] Vietnam Airlines , 2010 [REDACTED] Virgin Atlantic , 2023 [REDACTED] XiamenAir , 2012 Former members: Vanilla Alliance , founded in 2015, currently has 5 members: [REDACTED] Air Austral , founder [REDACTED] Air Madagascar , founder [REDACTED] Air Mauritius , founder [REDACTED] Air Seychelles , founder [REDACTED] Int'Air Îles , founder U-FLY Alliance , founded in 2016, currently has 4 members: [REDACTED] Eastar Jet , 2016 [REDACTED] Lucky Air , founder [REDACTED] Urumqi Air , founder [REDACTED] West Air , founder Former members: Value Alliance , founded in 2016, currently has 5 members: [REDACTED] Cebu Pacific , founder [REDACTED] Cebgo , founder [REDACTED] Jeju Air , founder [REDACTED] Nok Air , founder [REDACTED] Scoot , founder Former members: Fortress hub An airline hub or hub airport
1520-528: Was deregulated in 1978, most airlines operated under the point-to-point system (with a notable exception being Pan Am ). The Civil Aeronautics Board dictated which routes an airline could fly. At the same time, however, some airlines began to experiment with the hub-and-spoke system. Delta Air Lines was the first to implement such a system, providing service to remote spoke cities from its Atlanta hub. After deregulation, many airlines quickly established hub-and-spoke route networks of their own. In 1974,
1560-600: Was formed in the 1930s, when Panair do Brasil and its parent company Pan American World Airways agreed to exchange routes to Latin America . In 1990, the African Joint Air Services (AJAS) Accord between Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia led to the launch of Alliance Air in 1994, with South African Airways, Air Tanzania, Uganda Airlines and the governments of Uganda and Tanzania as shareholders. The first large alliance began in 1989, when Northwest Airlines and KLM agreed to large-scale codesharing. In 1992,
1600-843: Was the largest with 23% of total scheduled traffic in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs)/revenue passenger miles (RPMs) , followed by SkyTeam with 20.4% and Oneworld with 17.8%, leaving 38.8% for others. In 2019, by number of passengers, Star Alliance was leading 762 million, followed by SkyTeam (630 million) and Oneworld (535 million). Benefits can consist of an extended network, often realised through codeshare agreements . Many alliances started as only codeshare networks. Cost reductions come from sharing operation facilities (e.g. catering or computer systems), operation staff (e.g. ground handling personnel, at check-in and boarding desks), investments and purchases (e.g. in order to negotiate extra volume discounts). Traveler benefits can include lower prices due to lowered operational costs for
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