Whilst not confirmed yet, reports are indicating that the Taiwanese airline China Airlines (not to be confused with the Chinese mainland carrier Air China) will be signing a letter of intent to join the SkyTeam Alliance.
With Asia becoming a bigger target, SkyTeam is doing well with the recent additions of Vietnam Airlines, China Eastern, and the pulling of Shanghai Airlines from Star Alliance to SkyTeam. In addition, Garuda Indonesia has expressed an interest to join too.
Subject to agreements and China Airlines meeting agreements, it is expected that China Airlines will join SkyTeam in 2011.
Asia and India will be where the next big battles will be fought by the alliances as they try to hive off carriers into their own folds. In addition, the Latin American issue of LAN/TAM will surely focus the minds of bosses of alliances…