Could 2012 be a sad year for the Star Alliance? Well looks like it, Star has lost some of it’s shine and could be more on the way?

The hard times for star started when Lufthansa sold off British Midland International (bmi) to their european rival IAG, the parent company of British Airways and Iberia; One World Member airlines. It looks like this sale will go thru, but there is a chance that the UK government might rule this would be a monopoly. Star really wanted Lufthansa to ...

The other night I wanted to book a Star Alliance reward with my UNITED miles, so I called the 1K desk, I found the flights I wanted to get me from Manchester, UK (MAN) to Terceira, Azores (TER). I wanted to book MAN-FRA-LIS-TER and return, a reward within Europe for 25K miles. I wanted to route via FRA as my friend is going with me and he is based in FRA.

The UNITED agent told me routing via FRA would not work as I was “going to far out of the way” She added the ...

On August 1, 2012, Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) Airport will become the first airport in Texas to receive A380  service, when Lufthansa upgrades the aircraft type it uses to operate the Houston-Frankfurt flight. LH440. IAH will be Lufthansa’s fourth destination in the United States with A380 service.

The LH A380 will operate from Terminal D at IAH. Over the next several months, the Houston Airport will be renovating Terminal D to make accommodations to handle the extra-large aircraft.

There also looks like some good reward space in Y and C for this flight.

This week Lufthansa announced that they will be growing in Berlin! The current service from Berlin on Lufthansa is mostly domestic routes, with other European being served by Star Alliance partners. This will all happen when the capital of Germany welcomes the new airport “BER” Berlin Brandenburg Airport 'Willy Brandt'. Lufthansa will start 30 new destinations from summer 2012. Lufthansa's Berlin fleet is set to grow from nine to 15 aircraft all Airbus, mostly A319 from the failed ...

The LOT Polish airlines B767 that “crash” landed in Warsaw yesterday, skid down the runway on its belly, coming to a stop at the intersection of both the runways in Warsaw closing the airport for more than 24 hours.

UPDATE

- Warsaw airport is now open.

- I had a polish friend provide a translation of ATC:
[Ground]: tower, LOT16?
[LO16]: LOT16
[Ground]: LOT16, ground wind 104knots, for your information on the short straight we will turn off ...

 Sources say that bmi is in advanced discussions to sell bmi Regional to a U.K investor group previously associated with the regional business. The sale would be in the form of shares of bmi Regional, all assets used in the bmi Regional business including the aircraft fleet, the existing regional route network and the continued employment of the existing staff.

Sources say that transaction documents will be signed shortly and subject to achieving all regulatory approvals, the ...