SkyTeam trails in the Australian market, but Executive Board Member Juha Järvinen says there is no reason not to take a closer look at the program.

“It doesn’t hurt to have multiple (frequent flyer) membership cards,” Järvinen said over a wine in Dubai recently. “One basic benefit of being a member is the communications and offers from the airline.”

Many Australians tap the Oneworld alliance via their Qantas frequent flyer membership. Star Alliance is also well-known locally because heavyweight carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand have a big market presence and large numbers of Australians enrolled in their frequent flyer programs.

SkyTeam has become the airline alliance’s third wheel in the Australian market. That’s because no Australian airline is a member. Further, while several SkyTeam member airlines fly into Australia, only one, China Eastern, cracks the local top ten airlines in terms of international passenger market share.

SkyTeam’s Presence & Challenges In Australia

“SkyTeam has nineteen members now,” says Järvinen. “It will be twenty in September when SAS Scandinavian joins.” Of those nineteen airlines, seven fly into Australia, including Garuda Indonesia, Delta Air Lines, Vietnam Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, China Airlines, Korean Air, and China Eastern Airlines.

In the SkyTeam mix are carriers with first-rate business class cabin products, including Delta’s Delta One Suites to Los Angeles from Sydney (and Brisbane in December), the excellent China Airlines A350 services to Taipei from Sydney and Brisbane (and Auckland from Brisbane), and the well-regarded Korean Air flights to Seoul from Brisbane and Sydney.

Also in the mix are what you might call some up-and-coming airlines, including Vietnam Airlines which offers an old-school but highly comfortable business-class product complete with hard copies of newspapers, competitive fares to Europe, and stopover options in two of Asia’s best cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh.  

China Eastern may not be on everybody’s airline shortlist, but it should be. Sure, the inflight service may not be as polished as on some other airlines, but the business seat on its flights to and from Australia uses the same Thompson VantageXL platform as the Delta One Suite and is exceptionally high quality. You even get sliding doors. With flights from Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, China Eastern is the 10th largest international operator in the Australian market and offers connections to Europe and North America.

The CEO of Garuda Indonesia, another improving airline with flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Denpasar, Jakarta, and beyond, recently told this writer that one of the benefits of joining an alliance like SkyTeam is that it requires airlines to maintain minimum service, safety, and operational levels.

“It’s fantastic being a member of SkyTeam… SkyTeam sets a standard, we have to meet that standard, and that’s important for us.”

CEO of Garuda Indonesia, Irfan Setiaputra

Most Australian travellers are familiar with Garuda, and until the end of June, it could be your ticket to test-driving the SkyTeam program. Until June 30, 2024, Garuda is status matching Qantas Platinum and Virgin Australia Platinum frequent flyers to GarudaMiles Platinum VIP status (the equivalent of SkyTeam Elite Plus status) for three months.

If you take at least one trip to Indonesia (one-way is fine) within those three months on Garuda, they’ll extend the status to the end of Q1 2025. 

Exclusive Benefits For Members

SkyTeam Elite Plus gets you all the on-ground and inflight bells and whistles, including lounge access, to which Qantas and VA elites are accustomed. Those benefits can then be enjoyed on other SkyTeam airlines, such as Virgin Atlantic, Air France, and KLM.

“People who travel a lot… you need to be mindful that they give up a lot of stuff in their lives… That little benefit of sitting in a lounge or sitting up front, that’s a well-being issue.”

Juha Järvinen

Järvinen, also Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Atlantic, says on first impressions, SkyTeam may be less relevant to an Australian traveller than Oneworld, but every traveller has different needs and destinations. SkyTeam carriers have good flight options out of Australian East Coast airports for regular travellers to destinations like South Korea, Indonesia, and China, making it a viable alternative to Oneworld or Star Alliance.

SkyTeam continues to grow. Later this year, they’ll add SAS Scandinavian to the ranks. SAS is a Star Alliance member. However, Air France KLM Group recently acquired a minority stake, so SAS is switching to SkyTeam. In South Korea, pending final regulatory approval, Korean Air is poised to take over Star Alliance member Asiana. The Asiana brand will disappear.

What happens to its frequent flyer members remains unknown, but they will likely be offered the opportunity to switch to the Korean Air program, further bolstering SkyTeam’s membership base.