Press Release 2006

Star Alliance appoints Philip Saunders as new Vice-President Sales, Marketing & Loyalty

Star Alliance, the airline network for Earth™, has appointed Philip Saunders as Vice-President Sales, Marketing & Loyalty effective March 20th, 2006. Reporting directly to the Star Alliance CEO, Mr. Saunders will have responsibility for all marketing and sales functions at Star Alliance Services GmbH, the project and brand management company working on behalf of the 16-member airline alliance.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Saunders said: “I am very excited to have joined Star Alliance, and look forward to working with an international team of marketing and sales professionals to continue to develop the alliance as the best travel choice for customers.”

Mr. Saunders joins Star Alliance from SN Brussels Airlines, where he was Executive Vice-President Commercial. Adding to his strong airline industry background are a number of senior positions at British Airways and Deutsche BA. These included establishing BA Direct – a new direct sales organisation in the U.K. – a critical element of BA’s Future Size and Shape review. Moreover, Mr. Saunders brings with him a wealth of international work experience, having held key commercial roles across Eastern Europe, Germany and Switzerland.

“I am very pleased to welcome Philip to the Star Alliance team,” said Jaan Albrecht, CEO, Star Alliance. “His role will be to contribute to the development of the overall Star Alliance strategy in co-operation with the alliance management team. He will be responsible for defining the strategy and supporting the goals for Sales, Marketing, our worldwide brand, our new e-business solutions and the frequent flyer and loyalty components.”

Mr. Saunders, 38, is married with two children.

About Star Alliance:
Star Alliance was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer customers worldwide reach and a smooth travel experience. Star Alliance was voted Best Airline Alliance by Skytrax in 2003 and 2005. The members are Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, bmi, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Spanair, TAP Portugal, THAI, United, US Airways and VARIG Brazilian Airlines. South African Airways and SWISS will be integrated during the first half of 2006. Regional member carriers Adria Airways (Slovenia), Blue1 (Finland) and Croatia Airlines enhance the global network. Overall, Star Alliance offers more than 15,000 daily flights to 790 destinations in 138 countries.

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