STAR ALLIANCE TO SPONSOR NEW GOLF TOURNAMENT

Star Alliance, the global partnership of several of the world's leading airlines, is to be the title sponsor of a new US$300,000 golf tournament in Hong Kong this November which will bring together international stars and the best players from Asia and Australia.

The Star Alliance Open will be staged at the spectacular Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club from November 9-12 and will be a showpiece tournament for the 2000 season in the Asia-Pacific region.

The 132-strong field will form part of the Davidoff Tour and feature many of the top players from the PGA Tour of Australasia. In addition players from the US and European Tours will be specially invited to the event to help create the potential for an Asia-Australia versus the Rest of the World showdown.

An announcement on the participation of world ranked golfers will be made nearer the event.

Star Alliance groups together 15 airlines offering customers seamless service across a global network. It is Star Alliance's first sponsorship of a major international golf tournament.

"We are proud to be able to make such a prestigious event possible," said Mr Friedel Roedig, Chief Executive Officer of Star Alliance. "These are exciting times for Star Alliance. We are the frontrunners in global travel solutions and now we can help bring top players from all over the world to Asia for what promises to be a top quality tournament."

The Star Alliance Open will be the 19th leg of the Davidoff Tour and it is expected that over 20 players from the PGA Tour of Australasia will compete.

"Professional golf in Asia is beginning to boom again after several lean years and the Asian PGA is delighted to welcome aboard Star Alliance as a tournament sponsor," said the Asian PGA's Executive Director Ramlan Dato' Harun. "Sponsorship is the lifeblood of pro golf and it is satisfying to be associated with a prestigious airline grouping like Star Alliance.

"It is also exciting that the Star Alliance Open will see many players from the PGA Tour of Australasia challenging for honours at Clearwater Bay. The Davidoff Tour is going from strength to strength and events like this give our players the opportunity to test themselves against Australia's top players and several world stars.

"Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club is an excellent layout which our players know well and I am sure the galleries will see some great action and low scoring during the Star Alliance Open."

The par-70 Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club, with its tremendous cliff-top views, staged the Asian PGA's end-of-season Omega PGA Championship from 1995-1998. Taiwan's Yeh Chang-ting, Gerry Norquist of the United States, Rodrigo Cuello of the Philippines and Korea's Kang Wook-soon have triumphed over the tight and challenging course.

"We are delighted that Star Alliance is hosting a world-class tournament in Hong Kong," said Robert Perrault, Air Canada's director for Asia Pacific and the current chairman of Star Alliance's Hong Kong Steering Committee.

"Star has a strong presence here. Eight of the Alliance's carriers serve Hong Kong directly. It is a highly appropriate choice for such an exciting event."

The Star Alliance network covers 815 destinations in more than 130 countries through its partner airlines: Air Canada, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, Ansett Australia, the Austrian Airlines Group (consisting of Austrian Airlines, Lauda Air and Tyrolean Airways), British Midland, Lufthansa German Airlines, Mexicana Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways International, United Airlines and VARIG Brazilian Airlines.