After waiting seven years for what you hoped would be an airliner that would take the world by storm, it would be a shame to find that it did not fit your aerobridges.

Linking networks is a central goal of airline alliances, yet the latest announced addition to the Star Alliance, Air China affiliate Shenzhen Airlines, has few connections with the group's foreign partners. At first glance, the decision to admit Shenzhen next year looks like a great boost, since it adds to Star a fleet of 102 aircraft based in mainland China's richest city. And it gives the alliance a home in the Pearl River Delta, an area that has been an economic leader in China since the country began liberalizing in the late 1970s.

Shenzhen Airlines plans to expand its fleet to at least 171 aircraft by 2015, ramping up capacity by 10% a year in its role as the Air China group's challenger in the home territory of rival China Southern. That fleet forecast is conservative, says an airline official. “If possible, it will be more than 180,” she notes.