BA seeks transatlantic deal

The three airlines said they had signed a joint business agreement on flights between North America and Europe in an expansion of their already existing tie-ups.

The airlines will ask America and European authorities for immunity from competition regulations so the deal can go ahead.

BA said the three-way relationship would "benefit consumers by providing easy, seamless and convenient travel to more global destinations with better connections, improved flight schedules and enhanced frequent-flyer benefits"

It added: "It will improve customer choice by enabling the oneworld global alliance, of which American, BA and Iberia are key members, to compete more effectively around the world with other global alliances."

But Sir Richard Branson, head of BA's arch rivals Virgin Atlantic Airways has already said any link-up would be "bad for passengers, bad for competition and bad for the UK and US aviation industry".

Under the joint business agreement, the three airlines will co-operate commercially on flights between the US, Mexico and Canada, and the EU, Switzerland and Norway while continuing to operate as separate legal entities.

They will expand their joint-marketing codeshare arrangements on flights within and beyond the EU and US, significantly increasing the number of destination choices that the airlines can offer customers.

BA said the announcement was a significant step towards strengthening customer choice and would enable oneworld to compete effectively with rival global air alliances that have already received transatlantic anti-trust (competition rules) immunity.

BA added that customers would be able to travel more easily on the three airlines' combined route network which will serve 443 destinations in 106 countries with more than 6,200 daily departures and more frequent and convenient schedule options than any of the three carriers could offer individually.