Changes within the global airline alliances are pretty rare, especially in the last decade. But they obviously have a very big impact on travelers interested in travel rewards. In 2025 and 2026, several airlines will change alliances or join an alliance for the 1st time. And the 1st change has already happened.
We’ll probably never see anything like the most phenomenal promotion related to an alliance change when SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) gave 1 million points to travelers like me last fall.
Still… airline points are the most valuable reward currencies, by far (for economy class but especially for business class). Thanks to guaranteed fixed prices not tied to the flight’s cash price.
So it remains very important to know which points can be earned and especially redeemed on which partners (partners usually give better value, with almost all programs).
Here are the changes within global airline alliances for 2025 and 2026.
Overview of upcoming changes in airline alliances
If you don’t know the basics, you can read our guide about the 3 global airline alliances: Star Alliance, oneworld, and SkyTeam. You’ll soon receive our guide about airline partnerships, as these are vital in terms of earning and redeeming points.
Here are the changes announced for 2025 and 2026:
- Fiji Airways (Fiji)
- Joined oneworld
- March 31st, 2025
- ITA Airways (Italy)
- Leaving SkyTeam for Star Alliance
- April 30th, 2025 (left SkyTeam)
- Early 2026 (joining Star Alliance)
- Asiana Airlines (South Korea)
- Leaving Star Alliance for SkyTeam*
- Late 2025 or early 2026
- Oman Air (Oman)
- Joining oneworld
- June 30th, 2025
- Hawaiian Airlines (Hawaii, USA)
- Joining oneworld
- 2026
- Starlux (Taiwan)
- Wants to apply to join oneworld
- End of 2025
*Asiana will join SkyTeam indirectly
The oneworld alliance is the most active, clearly. It’s very good that the smallest of the 3 alliances is catching up a bit!
This is excellent news for Avios points, which are the airline points that are easiest to earn in huge quantities for Canadians (and are already the 2nd-best, after Aeroplan). That’s going to open up more options!
By the way, the record-high increased offer on the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card is back (60,000 points by unlocking the bonus)! RBC Avion points are transferable to Avios points at a 1-to-1 ratio (as are Amex points; but it’s better with RBC). It’s one of the top 4 best welcome bonuses for May 2025.
Let’s look at a few more details about each change.
Fiji Airways just joined oneworld (2025)
Fiji Airways is the flag carrier of Fiji, a paradisiacal country in the Melanesia region of Oceania.
With a fleet of 15 aircraft, Fiji Airways is quite small but is one of the rare airlines in the entire region that will be part of the alliances.
Its 2 routes to California can be very useful for getting to many hard-to-access Oceania countries. To give one example of a hard-to-reach country, I had booked Fiji Airways to go to Kiribati with points (I had to cancel due to the pandemic).
Fiji Airways had already been a “connecting partner” of the alliance for a few years, a sort of diluted membership that didn’t give all the benefits.
It has now become a full member. So Avios points can be redeemed at a fixed guaranteed price on Fiji Airways too.
However, there’s another development that’s quite unique: Fiji Airways has also adopted American Airlines’ AAdvantage program as its own rewards program. So you can redeem AAdvantage miles for these flights too.
RBC Avion points are also transferable to the AAdvantage program, one of the least-known airline programs accessible to Canadians. So this could become a whole new good redemption, even better than Avios in some cases.
Again, the record-high increased offer on the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card is back, so we’ll have an updated, complete guide to RBC Avion points soon!
ITA Airways will leave SkyTeam for Star Alliance (2025-2026)
ITA Airways is Italy’s flag carrier, the successor to Alitalia (which went bankrupt in 2020).
With a fleet of 98 aircraft, it’s a major player in the region from its hub in Rome (FCO). It only has one seasonal route to Toronto in terms of Canadian service.
It was partially acquired by Lufthansa, a founding member of Star Alliance. SWISS, Brussels Airlines, and Austrian Airlines are all airlines owned by the Lufthansa group that are Star Alliance members, so it was obvious that ITA Airways would do the same.
It was just confirmed officially.
In February 2025, ITA Airways officially left SkyTeam, with a transition period lasting until April 30th. The airline will join Star Alliance in the 1st quarter of 2026.
This means it will be possible to use Canada’s best airline points, Aeroplan points, at a guaranteed fixed price on one more European airline. You can read about 40+ current Aeroplan program partner airlines.
Asiana Airlines will leave Star Alliance for SkyTeam (2025-2026)
Asiana Airlines is one of South Korea’s 2 full-service airlines and is going in the opposite direction as ITA Airways.
With a fleet of 80 aircraft, Asiana Airlines is less known here in Canada because it doesn’t serve the country, but it offers several routes to the United States.
Its major competitor, Korean Air, just acquired it after years of bureaucracy.
Asiana Airlines will therefore disappear, and essentially the aircraft will indirectly join SkyTeam, the alliance to which Korean Air belongs.
SkyTeam is the least accessible alliance for Canadian travelers, but Air France-KLM Flying Blue Miles can sometimes be interesting (Amex points are transferable to Flying Blue).
So this change will give more options on that side.
Oman Air will join oneworld (2025)
Oman Air is the flag carrier of a country I loved visiting and that is far too ignored by travelers, Oman (one of the world’s safest countries by the way for the many who know nothing about the Middle East).
With a fleet of 35 aircraft, Oman Air is smaller than other well-known Persian Gulf airlines but has an excellent reputation, just like its country. It doesn’t serve North America, however.
It was announced a long time ago, but the airline should finally join the oneworld alliance on June 30th, 2025.
You’ll therefore have more options with your Avios points if you visit this amazing part of the world (Oman is squarely one of my favorite countries among the 70+ I’ve visited).
Hawaiian Airlines will join oneworld (2026)
Hawaiian Airlines is the 10th largest US airline, based in Hawaii.
With a fleet of 70 aircraft, Hawaiian Airlines dominates the market for flights to Hawaii but doesn’t serve Canada.
The airline was recently purchased by the other airline named after a state that isn’t part of the continental United States, Alaska Airlines.
The latter is a oneworld member and has confirmed that the Hawaiian Airlines brand will remain alive. But on the operational side, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines will become one, so Hawaiian Airlines will therefore join oneworld as well in 2026.
Considering how the cash prices are very low for flights between Canada and Hawaii and very high for flights between Canada and Asia/Oceania, Avios points may become very interesting for the self-transfer tip via Hawaiian Airlines flights between Hawaii and Asia/Oceania. To be continued!
Starlux wants to apply to join oneworld (2025)
Starlux is a new premium airline based in Taiwan.
With a fleet of 26 aircraft, its growth has been meteoric. It serves 3 destinations in the United States. Its application hasn’t been accepted yet by oneworld, but the airline plans to formally apply for membership at the end of 2025. So this remains to be confirmed.
This is the only alliance option for this airline: its competitors, the 2 Taiwanese giants, are already part of other alliances: EVA Air (Star Alliance) and China Airlines (SkyTeam).
But Cathay Pacific, which has its hub in Hong Kong (HKG), just 806 kilometers (501 ) from Taipei, could oppose and use its veto right as a founding member of oneworld.
Once again, it would be great to have more options with Avios points and for the smallest alliance to grow a bit more. Especially to where flights are the most expensive right now, Asia, and where airline points are therefore obviously worth the most (again; fixed prices not tied to the cash price).
Overview of the last decade’s changes in airline alliances
As mentioned, the last decade has been rather quiet in terms of airline alliance changes.
If you’re interested in knowing exactly what changed in the last 10 years, I list it by alliance here.
Star Alliance:
- SAS/Scandinavian Airlines left for SkyTeam (2024)
- Adria Airways ceased operations (2019)
oneworld:
- S7 Airlines was suspended (2022)
- Alaska Airlines joined (2021)
- Royal Air Maroc joined (2020)
- LATAM left (2020)
- Air Berlin ceased operations (2017)
SkyTeam:
- SAS/Scandinavian Airlines joined from Star Alliance (2024)
- ČSA/Czech Airlines ceased operations (2024)
- Virgin Atlantic joined (2023)
- Aeroflot was suspended (2022)
- China Southern Airlines left (2018)
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Summary
Changes within global airline alliances have been quite rare recently. But 2025 and 2026 are shaping up to be slightly more active years, with 2 changes and at least 3 additions (maybe even 4).
What would you like to know about the changes coming in global airline alliances in 2025 and 2026? Tell us in the comments below.
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Featured image: Fiji (photo credit: Max)
