New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS)

National carrier Air India is finally set to join the global inter-airline pact of Star Alliance, a senior official said Friday.

"Air India's suspension has been revoked and the joining process has been started. This decision was taken by the board of Star Alliance today (Friday)," a senior Air India official told IANS.

The Indian flag carrier's process of joining the inter-airline pact was suspended in 2011 over various reasons like financial and labour problems and bad press over safety issues.

According to the official, who wished to remain unidentified, the decision was taken by the board of Star Alliance in Vienna. The meet was also attended by Air India's chairman and managing direct (CMD) Rohit Nandan.

"The decision will allow the Alliance to restart the integration process of Air India into the inter-airline pact. This will further help us in integrating ticketing and frequent flyer programmes, among other things."

The official added that though at a very early stage, Air India is looking at joining the Alliance within early next year.

"We had earlier completed all the mandatory requirements of joining the alliance like a single-operations code. So the process should not take much longer now," the official said.