El Al is unlikely to become a member of Star Alliance since the group has stated that any new members need to be beneficial to the Alliance overall and to the individual carrier, which means a new member airline would have to bring in additional destinations into the Alliance as well as having a strong home market.
Israel’s tough antitrust laws will work against EL Al’s possible entry into the alliance as it makes it almost impossible for El Al to maintain codeshare agreements with the same flexibility enjoyed by European carriers. The airline’s stringent security procedures also have an impact.
Moreover all of the global airline alliances already have a Middle East partner presence and so do not need El Al, which also does not benefit from a wide hub-and-spoke network.
El Al unlikely to gain Star Alliance membership
