Airline alliances

　　航空公司聯盟

　　The airmiles-high clubs

　　高空俱樂部

　　Three airline alliances cover most of theworldwhere do they go next?

　　三家航空公司聯盟已然覆蓋了整個世界-接下來何去何從呢?

　　FOR businesspeople who spend much of their time in the air, the three global airlineclubsStar Alliance, oneworld and SkyTeamare all about such goodies as frequent-flyerpoints and access to comfy lounges.

　　對于那些成天飛來飛去的商務人士來說，提到星空聯盟、環宇一家、天合聯盟這三家全球航空俱樂部就意味著飛行常客獎勵點數和貴賓室待遇。

　　For the airlines that belong to them, the main benefit is that the other members hook themup with lots of passengers seeking connecting flights, helping them to fill their planes.

　　而對于那些航空公司聯盟成員而言，最大的好處就是聯盟成員可以相互之間把那些轉機乘客的航線關聯起來，來增加客座率。

　　Since the alliances started in the late 1990s, they have steadily signed up new members.

　　航空聯盟成立于90年代后期，并不斷穩定的發展新的聯盟成員。

　　Until recently SkyTeam, which includes Air France, KLM and Delta, was the laggard.

　　雖然最近天合聯盟發展慢了下來，但它已經收獲頗豐，

　　But it has gained altitude by signing, among others, China Eastern and China Southern, twoof China s big three carriers.

　　尤其是簽了中國三大航空巨頭其中的兩家，中國東方航空公司和中國南方航空公司。

　　Star Alliance, which includes Lufthansa, United-Continental and Singapore Airlines, remainsthe biggest, having signed up Air China, the third of the mainland s big three.

　　星空聯盟依然是規模最大的，包括了德國漢莎航空公司、美國聯合航空及大陸航空聯營公司、新加坡航空公司，并簽約了大陸三巨頭之一的中國國際航空公司。

　　One world, which includes British Airways, American Airlines, Iberia and Cathay Pacific, willsoon welcome aboard India s Kingfisher.

　　環宇一家則包括英國航空公司、美國航空公司、利比亞航空公司以及國泰航空公司，同時也即將迎來印度翠鳥航空的加盟。

　　Now there are few big network airlines left to be nabbed.

　　現如今剩下的幾家擁有大型航空網絡的航空公司成了搶手貨。

　　The juiciest prize still on offer is LATAM, a giant to be formed next year through a merger ofBrazil s TAM and Chile s LAN, which will dominate the skies of South America.

　　最讓人垂涎欲滴的就是拉美航空公司，是將在明年由巴西天馬航空公司和智利航空公司合并成的一個龐然大物，并成為南美洲天空的霸主。

　　TAM now belongs to Star and LAN to one world, but regulators will force the merged carrier tochoose.

　　現在天馬航空是星空聯盟的成員而智利航空是環宇一家的成員，但是監管機構將強制合并后的公司選擇其中一家聯盟。

　　Star has already signed up two Latin American rivals, AviancaTaca and Copa, but it is notimpossible to imagine it jilting either of these, if that were necessary to be allowed to admitLATAM.

　　盡管星空聯盟已經簽約了拉美航空市場的另外兩個玩家，中美洲航空公司和巴拿馬航空公司，但是不難想象的是為了拉美航空公司的加盟，如果必要的話星空聯盟將舍棄其中一家。

　　One world needs LATAM even more: as the only alliance to lack a member in Chinese mainland,it cannot afford to drop two BRICs.

　　環宇一家更是對拉美航空公司青眼有加，因為作為唯一一個沒有中國大陸航空公司加盟的航空聯盟，它無法承擔失去兩個金磚四國成員的航空市場。

　　In India s big but chaotic market, oneworld is sorted, but Star and SkyTeam are said to bechasing Jet Airways.

　　印度是一個巨大而混亂的市場，環宇一家還在考察，但據說星空聯盟和天合聯盟已開始爭奪捷特航空公司。

　　Star spent years negotiating with Air India, the deeply troubled flag-carrier, butsuspended talks in July.

　　星空聯盟已經花費數年和陷入運營困境的國家航運公司-印度航空公司談判，但是7月份的時候卻中止了對話。

　　The Arabian Gulf s three superconnectorsEmirates, Etihad and Qatarare unsigned, butare growing so quickly that they see little need for allies.

　　阿拉伯海灣的三家超級網絡卻沒簽約加盟，包括酋長國航空公司、阿提哈德航空和卡塔爾航空，它們迅速擴張似乎并不怎么需要聯盟。

　　That leaves just a few independent carriers with long-haul networks.

　　那么就剩下為數不多的幾家擁有長途航線的航運公司可選擇了。

　　Virgin Atlantic is one: its bid to buy bmi, Lufthansa s money-losing British offshoot, seems tohave failed, with BA s parent company the likely buyer.

　　英國維珍大西洋航空公司就是其中一家，它對英倫航空的競標看起來是沒戲了，因為英國航空公司的母公司想要收構英倫航空。

　　The question is whether Virgin can continue in splendid isolation when all around it are in cosyco-operation.

　　關鍵是維珍航空還能繼續光榮獨立么，而周遭都是安逸的協同合作。

　　Somewhat like the European Union, the alliances have variable geometry:

　　這有些像歐盟，聯盟采用可變機翼的原則：

　　members do not have to join all initiatives, and non-members sometimes take part inselected activities.

　　聯盟成員不必響應所有的活動，而非聯盟成員則可以參加特定的活動。

　　Each alliance has at its core a group of carriers which pool their flights in the hugetransatlantic market.

　　在巨大的跨大西洋市場里，每個聯盟都有自己的一組核心成員把各自的班機放在一起聯合運營。

　　America s Department of Transportation has given these ventures immunity from antitrustprosecution.

　　美國交通運輸部給予這些合企業反壟斷起訴的豁免權。

　　The European Commission has approved oneworld s transatlantic venture, with conditions,but is still investigating the other two.

　　歐盟委員會已經有條件的批準了環宇一家的跨大西洋合資公司，但還在審查另外兩家的申請。

　　A report by London-based Aviation Economics notes that the transatlantic ventures are a goodsource of profits in an otherwise hard marketbut if they start to look too successful,regulators may get tougher.

　　一份來自倫敦航空經濟研究報告所示，跨大西洋合資公司在競爭激烈的市場能有效的產生利潤，但一旦它們過分高調的話，監管機構就會變得強硬起來。

　　The alliances have encouraged their members to co-operate on such things as buying cabininteriors, to obtain better prices from suppliers.

　　這些聯盟都鼓勵它們的成員通類似于團購座艙內飾等方式來合作，以便從供應商處獲得更便宜的價格。

　　But progress is slow: only a handful of Star members are taking part in its project to buyaircraft seats jointly.

　　但是進展卻很緩慢，只有很少量的星空聯盟的成員參與了這個項目來聯合購買飛機座位。

　　A consultant to one of the alliances says he has spent two years trying to persuade itsmembers to agree on a joint check-in desk at one airport.

　　一位來自其中一個聯盟的的咨詢顧問聲稱他用了2年的時間嘗試去說服聯盟成員在機場建立一個聯合登機手續辦理窗口。

　　SkyTeam s boss, Michael Wisbrun,

　　而天合聯盟的老板邁克爾?威斯布倫說，

　　says even simple stuff like this saves a lot of money, so he is urging his member airlines tomake it their priority.

　　類似于這些看似簡單的改變將節省大筆費用; 因此他一直敦促其聯盟成員優先去做這些事情。

　　As the alliances struggle both to broaden and deepen further, they face being unpicked bytheir customers, as ever more of them build their own flight itineraries using online portals,which can result in big savings.

　　這些航空聯盟都在盡力拓寬拓深其業務領域，然而他們卻要面臨客戶流失的問題，因為越來越多的人通過在線網站來安排自己的飛行旅程來節省開銷。

　　Oneworld s boss, Bruce Ashby, says the alliances are aimed at offering seamless service tobusiness flyers who care more about convenience than price.

　　環宇一家的老板布魯斯.阿什比聲稱聯盟志在為那些視便捷性甚于價格的商務人士提供無縫服務。

　　The trouble is, such passengers are also sensitive to the big variations that still existbetween each alliance s member airlines.

　　不過麻煩的是，這類乘客對于同一個聯盟內的不同航空公司的巨大差異非常敏感。

　　Those used to plush Asian and European business-class cabins are often dismayed when theytransfer to their airline s American alliance partner, where the service is poorerandhorrorsthe seats don t always convert to fully flat beds.

　　那些習慣于亞洲和歐洲的豪華商務艙的人士，當他們被轉到聯盟內的美國航班時總是很失望，因為這些航班服務很差而且更惱火的的是有時候座椅居然不能轉成躺椅模式。

　　詞語解釋

　　1.alliance n.聯盟;聯姻

　　They broke up the alliance.

　　他們中止了聯盟。

　　2.frequent a.頻繁的;經常的

　　My girlfriend writes frequent letters to me.

　　我的女朋友頻繁地給我寫信。

　　3.lounge n.休息室;候機室;起居室

　　We watched television in the hotel lounge.

　　我們在旅館休息室里看電視。

　　4.carrier n.航空母艦;運輸工具

　　The missile was launched from the aircraft carrier.

　　導彈是從航空母艦上發射的。

　　5.network n.網點;網絡

　　The fabrics are merchandised through a network of dealers.

　　通過經銷網點銷售紡織品。

　　Airline alliances

　　航空公司聯盟

　　The airmiles-high clubs

　　高空俱樂部

　　Three airline alliances cover most of theworldwhere do they go next?

　　三家航空公司聯盟已然覆蓋了整個世界-接下來何去何從呢?

　　FOR businesspeople who spend much of their time in the air, the three global airlineclubsStar Alliance, oneworld and SkyTeamare all about such goodies as frequent-flyerpoints and access to comfy lounges.

　　對于那些成天飛來飛去的商務人士來說，提到星空聯盟、環宇一家、天合聯盟這三家全球航空俱樂部就意味著飛行常客獎勵點數和貴賓室待遇。

　　For the airlines that belong to them, the main benefit is that the other members hook themup with lots of passengers seeking connecting flights, helping them to fill their planes.

　　而對于那些航空公司聯盟成員而言，最大的好處就是聯盟成員可以相互之間把那些轉機乘客的航線關聯起來，來增加客座率。

　　Since the alliances started in the late 1990s, they have steadily signed up new members.

　　航空聯盟成立于90年代后期，并不斷穩定的發展新的聯盟成員。

　　Until recently SkyTeam, which includes Air France, KLM and Delta, was the laggard.

　　雖然最近天合聯盟發展慢了下來，但它已經收獲頗豐，

　　But it has gained altitude by signing, among others, China Eastern and China Southern, twoof China s big three carriers.

　　尤其是簽了中國三大航空巨頭其中的兩家，中國東方航空公司和中國南方航空公司。

　　Star Alliance, which includes Lufthansa, United-Continental and Singapore Airlines, remainsthe biggest, having signed up Air China, the third of the mainland s big three.

　　星空聯盟依然是規模最大的，包括了德國漢莎航空公司、美國聯合航空及大陸航空聯營公司、新加坡航空公司，并簽約了大陸三巨頭之一的中國國際航空公司。

　　One world, which includes British Airways, American Airlines, Iberia and Cathay Pacific, willsoon welcome aboard India s Kingfisher.

　　環宇一家則包括英國航空公司、美國航空公司、利比亞航空公司以及國泰航空公司，同時也即將迎來印度翠鳥航空的加盟。

　　Now there are few big network airlines left to be nabbed.

　　現如今剩下的幾家擁有大型航空網絡的航空公司成了搶手貨。

　　The juiciest prize still on offer is LATAM, a giant to be formed next year through a merger ofBrazil s TAM and Chile s LAN, which will dominate the skies of South America.

　　最讓人垂涎欲滴的就是拉美航空公司，是將在明年由巴西天馬航空公司和智利航空公司合并成的一個龐然大物，并成為南美洲天空的霸主。

　　TAM now belongs to Star and LAN to one world, but regulators will force the merged carrier tochoose.

　　現在天馬航空是星空聯盟的成員而智利航空是環宇一家的成員，但是監管機構將強制合并后的公司選擇其中一家聯盟。

　　Star has already signed up two Latin American rivals, AviancaTaca and Copa, but it is notimpossible to imagine it jilting either of these, if that were necessary to be allowed to admitLATAM.

　　盡管星空聯盟已經簽約了拉美航空市場的另外兩個玩家，中美洲航空公司和巴拿馬航空公司，但是不難想象的是為了拉美航空公司的加盟，如果必要的話星空聯盟將舍棄其中一家。

　　One world needs LATAM even more: as the only alliance to lack a member in Chinese mainland,it cannot afford to drop two BRICs.

　　環宇一家更是對拉美航空公司青眼有加，因為作為唯一一個沒有中國大陸航空公司加盟的航空聯盟，它無法承擔失去兩個金磚四國成員的航空市場。

　　In India s big but chaotic market, oneworld is sorted, but Star and SkyTeam are said to bechasing Jet Airways.

　　印度是一個巨大而混亂的市場，環宇一家還在考察，但據說星空聯盟和天合聯盟已開始爭奪捷特航空公司。

　　Star spent years negotiating with Air India, the deeply troubled flag-carrier, butsuspended talks in July.

　　星空聯盟已經花費數年和陷入運營困境的國家航運公司-印度航空公司談判，但是7月份的時候卻中止了對話。

　　The Arabian Gulf s three superconnectorsEmirates, Etihad and Qatarare unsigned, butare growing so quickly that they see little need for allies.

　　阿拉伯海灣的三家超級網絡卻沒簽約加盟，包括酋長國航空公司、阿提哈德航空和卡塔爾航空，它們迅速擴張似乎并不怎么需要聯盟。

　　That leaves just a few independent carriers with long-haul networks.

　　那么就剩下為數不多的幾家擁有長途航線的航運公司可選擇了。

　　Virgin Atlantic is one: its bid to buy bmi, Lufthansa s money-losing British offshoot, seems tohave failed, with BA s parent company the likely buyer.

　　英國維珍大西洋航空公司就是其中一家，它對英倫航空的競標看起來是沒戲了，因為英國航空公司的母公司想要收構英倫航空。

　　The question is whether Virgin can continue in splendid isolation when all around it are in cosyco-operation.

　　關鍵是維珍航空還能繼續光榮獨立么，而周遭都是安逸的協同合作。

　　Somewhat like the European Union, the alliances have variable geometry:

　　這有些像歐盟，聯盟采用可變機翼的原則：

　　members do not have to join all initiatives, and non-members sometimes take part inselected activities.

　　聯盟成員不必響應所有的活動，而非聯盟成員則可以參加特定的活動。

　　Each alliance has at its core a group of carriers which pool their flights in the hugetransatlantic market.

　　在巨大的跨大西洋市場里，每個聯盟都有自己的一組核心成員把各自的班機放在一起聯合運營。

　　America s Department of Transportation has given these ventures immunity from antitrustprosecution.

　　美國交通運輸部給予這些合企業反壟斷起訴的豁免權。

　　The European Commission has approved oneworld s transatlantic venture, with conditions,but is still investigating the other two.

　　歐盟委員會已經有條件的批準了環宇一家的跨大西洋合資公司，但還在審查另外兩家的申請。

　　A report by London-based Aviation Economics notes that the transatlantic ventures are a goodsource of profits in an otherwise hard marketbut if they start to look too successful,regulators may get tougher.

　　一份來自倫敦航空經濟研究報告所示，跨大西洋合資公司在競爭激烈的市場能有效的產生利潤，但一旦它們過分高調的話，監管機構就會變得強硬起來。

　　The alliances have encouraged their members to co-operate on such things as buying cabininteriors, to obtain better prices from suppliers.

　　這些聯盟都鼓勵它們的成員通類似于團購座艙內飾等方式來合作，以便從供應商處獲得更便宜的價格。

　　But progress is slow: only a handful of Star members are taking part in its project to buyaircraft seats jointly.

　　但是進展卻很緩慢，只有很少量的星空聯盟的成員參與了這個項目來聯合購買飛機座位。

　　A consultant to one of the alliances says he has spent two years trying to persuade itsmembers to agree on a joint check-in desk at one airport.

　　一位來自其中一個聯盟的的咨詢顧問聲稱他用了2年的時間嘗試去說服聯盟成員在機場建立一個聯合登機手續辦理窗口。

　　SkyTeam s boss, Michael Wisbrun,

　　而天合聯盟的老板邁克爾?威斯布倫說，

　　says even simple stuff like this saves a lot of money, so he is urging his member airlines tomake it their priority.

　　類似于這些看似簡單的改變將節省大筆費用; 因此他一直敦促其聯盟成員優先去做這些事情。

　　As the alliances struggle both to broaden and deepen further, they face being unpicked bytheir customers, as ever more of them build their own flight itineraries using online portals,which can result in big savings.

　　這些航空聯盟都在盡力拓寬拓深其業務領域，然而他們卻要面臨客戶流失的問題，因為越來越多的人通過在線網站來安排自己的飛行旅程來節省開銷。

　　Oneworld s boss, Bruce Ashby, says the alliances are aimed at offering seamless service tobusiness flyers who care more about convenience than price.

　　環宇一家的老板布魯斯.阿什比聲稱聯盟志在為那些視便捷性甚于價格的商務人士提供無縫服務。

　　The trouble is, such passengers are also sensitive to the big variations that still existbetween each alliance s member airlines.

　　不過麻煩的是，這類乘客對于同一個聯盟內的不同航空公司的巨大差異非常敏感。

　　Those used to plush Asian and European business-class cabins are often dismayed when theytransfer to their airline s American alliance partner, where the service is poorerandhorrorsthe seats don t always convert to fully flat beds.

　　那些習慣于亞洲和歐洲的豪華商務艙的人士，當他們被轉到聯盟內的美國航班時總是很失望，因為這些航班服務很差而且更惱火的的是有時候座椅居然不能轉成躺椅模式。

　　詞語解釋

　　1.alliance n.聯盟;聯姻

　　They broke up the alliance.

　　他們中止了聯盟。

　　2.frequent a.頻繁的;經常的

　　My girlfriend writes frequent letters to me.

　　我的女朋友頻繁地給我寫信。

　　3.lounge n.休息室;候機室;起居室

　　We watched television in the hotel lounge.

　　我們在旅館休息室里看電視。

　　4.carrier n.航空母艦;運輸工具

　　The missile was launched from the aircraft carrier.

　　導彈是從航空母艦上發射的。

　　5.network n.網點;網絡

　　The fabrics are merchandised through a network of dealers.

　　通過經銷網點銷售紡織品。