New Delhi, Sept. 27: State-run Air India is expecting to become a member of Star Alliance, a global network of operators, in two months.

Air India will be the first from the country to join such a network whose members offer common facilities to passengers and use the same technology platform.

The national carrier will make a final presentation before the alliance in November. Only one airline from a country is admitted as a member, with exceptions made for countries such as the US and China.

An announcement from Star could come by December, possibly around the time Air China and Shanghai Airlines become full members of the alliance. However, actual membership will have to wait till the completion of the merger of Air India and Indian.

SkyTeam and Oneworld, the two other global networks, are also likely to take on board an Indian airline.

Sources said Oneworld was weighing between SpiceJet and Kingfisher, with scales tilted towards the latter. All the three entities want strong members from the two fastest-growing aviation markets — India and China. The trio, in a perennial rivalry over market share, see an extension of their networks into India and China a necessity.

Star members include Swiss, Thai, United, US Airways, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and Air Nippon.

Oneworld has British Airways, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and Quantas as its members. Air France, Continental, Delta, Northwest and KLM are some of the members of Skyteam.

Star covers 155 countries, Skyteam 151 and Oneworld 142 countries.

Analysts say the benefits to an airline of being a member far outweigh the advantages of being an independent player. Benefits include an extended and optimised network, realised through code share agreements.

There are also cost reductions through similar marketing strategies and sharing of maintenance and operational facilities, such as in catering and issuing of tickets.