Air India is expected to receive the green light to formally join the Star Alliance group in tomorrow at a meeting of CEOs of the alliance's member airlines behind held in London.
A positive decision would see Air India inducted into Star Alliance in July, as previously tipped by Star Alliance CEO Mark Schwab.
Air India has been working through the final stages of its checklist for entry into Star Alliance, with most of what remains being integration of Air India's IT network into the Star Alliance system.
This will be Air India's second chance to join the Star Alliance group as the airline coalition scrambles for a large piece of the growing Indian air travel market.
The Indian airline first signed on to Star Alliance in December 2007 but the process ground to a halt after almost four years, with the airline's application for membership suspended in July 2011.
Asked what has changed three years down the track, Schwab said today's airline is "a different Air India."
"They have been through a tough merger but they have a strong management team and they have improved their infrastructure and fleet."
Nearly 37 million international passengers travel to and from India each year, with a third of those passengers flying on Air India and Jet Airways, Air India's local competitor which late last year sold a 24% stake to Etihad.
17% of the traffic belongs to Gulf carriers including Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Air Arabia.
Star Alliance is reported to have only a 13% share of the country's total international traffic, with rivals OneWorld and SkyTeam holding 8% each.
The remainder belongs to international airlines which are not affiliated with any of the three alliance families.
Finding an Indian partner has been troublesome for alliances.
Oneworld had pinned its hopes on high-flyer Kingfisher, which as recently as December 2011 enjoyed the the second largest share in India's domestic air travel market, but suspended the airline's membership application in early 2012 as the airline's growing losses exceeded US$1 billion.
Following a series of shut-downs, strikes and employee lock-outs, Kingfisher's aviation licence was withdrawn in October 12 and its international flying rights and domestic slots scrapped by Indian aviation authorities in February 2013.
Ausbt.com
