EU Gives Final Approval to BA, AA, Iberia Joint Venture

The European Commission has given British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia final regulatory approval to enter into a joint business agreement on trans-Atlantic flights. The airlines anticipate that they will receive the final decision on trans-Atlantic anti-trust immunity from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) shortly.

“We await the DOT’s final decision but welcome this important and vital step forward,” said British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh. “The high number of new services on London-to-U.S. routes since the Open Skies agreement demonstrates that Heathrow is open. Between us, we have agreed to make available Heathrow slot pairs for our competitors to use on services to the U.S. This is a pragmatic decision so that we can get the joint business up and running as soon as possible. The slot commitments provide a further guarantee that there will be no possible loss of competition as a result of our joint business”.

The slots will be made available if competitor airlines are unable to acquire them through the normal process. The London-New York slots will only have to be made available if the number of services on the route drops below the currently announced levels. The airlines plan to launch the trans-Atlantic joint business this autumn.