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BA set for partnership with American and Iberia

BA set for partnership with American and Iberia British Airways has confirmed that it fully intends to enter into a three-way transatlantic partnership with American Airlines and Spanish carrier Iberia.

An application for anti-trust immunity has reportedly been submitted by the three carriers to the US Department of Transportation.

If successful, this would enable the alliance to benefit from a joint agreement on transatlantic flights alongside expanded levels of global cooperation.

Operating as the oneworld® alliance, the partnership also includes Finnair and Royal Jordanian Airlines in the anti-trust application.

oneworld® officials state that some of the perks of the partnership to passengers would be improved schedules, connections and a variety of enhanced flight benefits.

The BA-AA-Iberia oneworld® alliance would potentially service 443 destinations across 106 countries involving a truly staggering 6,200 departures every day.

As part of the case, oneworld® has pointed to the immunity already enjoyed by airline alliances SkyTeam and Star Alliance as precedents in their favour.

Willie Walsh, BA chief executive, told TravelMole that this is "a changed regulatory world where London Heathrow is open to any US or EU airline to fly to the United States and where rival alliances have immunity".

Although Walsh was quick to stress that BA would not be surrendering any of its Heathrow take-off slots in order to win approval for their plans.

Gerard Arpey, AA chairman and president, added to TravelMole that the proposal is an "an important step towards ensuring that we can compete effectively with rival alliances and manage through the challenges of record fuel prices and growing economic concerns".

"In addition, we believe we will be more effective competitors with greater ability to invest in our products and services," he said.

However, Virgin Atlantic's Richard Branson is challenging the alliance on grounds that it will unfairly affect transatlantic competition.


Airline News posted on 18 August 2008

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