At an official ceremony held in Brussels� historic �Grande Place� today, the CEOs of the Star Alliance member airlines welcomed Brussels Airlines to the family.

Brussels Airlines is the Belgian airline offering the widest choice of flights to and from the �capital� of Europe. With a fleet of 51 aircraft the airline operates some 200 daily flights to 55 European airports and 14 African destinations.

With the addition of Brussels Airlines, customers on the Star Alliance network can now choose from more than 19,700 daily flights to reach 1,077 destinations in 175 countries. New to the network are more connections from Brussels Airport, which has now become a Star Alliance hub, as well as four destinations in Africa: Bujumbura, Burundi; Conakry, Guinea; Kigali, Rwanda; Monrovia, Liberia. In total, 11 Star Alliance member carriers now serve 81 destinations in 40 countries across Africa.

At the same time, Frequent Flyers benefits have also been enhanced, with customers from all member airlines now being able to earn and burn miles on more flights than ever before.

Brussels Airlines HON Circle and Senator Card holders are now given Star Alliance Gold status while Brussels Airlines Frequent Traveller card holders now have Star Alliance silver status. By the same token, all other Star Alliance Gold and Silver status holders will be given the appropriate benefits when travelling on Brussels Airlines. Gold status privileges include access to now 980 lounges across the network.

On the fares side, Brussels Airlines in participating in three of the alliances fare products: the Round the World fare, European Airpass and African Airpass. For the Star Alliance Round the World fare, customers can now make use of Brussels Airlines flights when creating their itinerary, especially for flights within Europe and to and from Africa. For visitors to Europe, the extensive network from Brussels creates new possibilities to travel on the European Airpass. As for the African Airpass, Brussels Airlines provides numerous connections to Africa, from where customer can commence their travel on the African Airpass.

About Star Alliance: The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award, Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Aegean Airlines, Air India, and TAM have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers 19,700 daily flights to 1,077 airports in 175 countries.

For further information please contact: Star Alliance Press Office Tel: +49 69 96375 183 Fax: +49 69 96375 683 Email: mediarelations@staralliance.com www.staralliance.com