This was a decision taken by its Chief Executive Board, comprising the Chief Executive Officers of its 26 member airlines, who considered a new centre of excellence to be an important dimension of positioning the Alliance to deliver on its post-Coronavirus strategy, and for it to remain innovative, resilient and nimble.

All businesses are reimagining a post-pandemic world fundamentally changed by COVID-19, and the associated disruption to global networks, economies, and the livelihoods of many. A consequence of the world’s reaction to COVID-19 has been the destabilizing effect it has had on aviation.

This decision to future-proof the Alliance was made against this backdrop.

Effectively, Star Alliance will maintain two centres of excellence internationally, in keeping with the global character of the Alliance.

The Singapore office will complement the long-standing office in Frankfurt, Germany and will focus on progressing its strategy in digital customer experience. Two members of the Alliance, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines, have established innovation hubs in the City, another benefit as the Alliance continues its ground-breaking digital customer experience innovations.

Singapore was selected based on considered criteria, such as access to innovation and global competitiveness. Singapore has also been ranked highly for the ease of doing business by the World Bank on a consistent basis and has been ranked the most competitive country in the world on several occasions.