There are three major frequent flyer alliances that bring together the loyalty programs from several different airlines: Star Alliance (United, Continental, US Airways, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, and 21 more), One World (American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, and nine others) and Sky Team (Delta, Air France, KLM, plus 10 more).

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To shore up its international position, Varig last year joined the Star alliance, a loose association whose members include United Airlines and Germany's Lufthansa.

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Air Polonia will be the first local rival of state-owned LOT airline, which last month joined the Lufthansa-led Star Alliance to strengthen its position ahead of an expected battle with budget airlines.

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Since then, most airlines have collected themselves into three different alliances: OneWorld, Star Alliance, and SkyTeam.

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In 1997, United Airlines, Lufthansa, and Air Canada partnered together and formed Star Alliance, the first modern-day airline alliance.

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Speaking on BBC Radio this morning, IAG's boss, Willie Walsh, made the point that this would be a far lower share of slots than Lufthansa and its Star Alliance partners have at Frankfurt, or that Air France and its fellow SkyTeam airlines have at Paris Charles de Gaulle.

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Indeed, last week's trip was organized with help from airlines including Lufthansa, Continental and United in the Star Alliance, one of the three major airline groupings that market seats and services together.

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This has helped earn Mr. Fyfe the position as inaugural chairman of Star Alliance, the world's largest airline alliance, not to mention requests from other airlines for the technology behind the "sky couch, " which offers flat-bed seating in economy.

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