AA, BA and Iberia Granted Final Government Approval on Trans-Atlantic Cooperation Bid

American Airlines, British Airways, and Iberia have received final approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to create a joint business governing flights between North America and Europe and will expand their global cooperation as a result of receiving antitrust immunity. Fellow oneworld members Finnair and Royal Jordanian also received antitrust immunity from the DOT. The European Union approved the joint business on 14 July 2010.

"This is a great day for all three airlines and the oneworld alliance. We've waited 14 years to bring the benefits of the trans-Atlantic joint business to our customers and level the playing field with the other two global alliances," said British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh. "As we have argued all along, the EU-U.S. market is highly competitive and Heathrow's liberalization in 2008 opened it up even further. We are delighted that the U.S. and EU authorities have recognized this.

"We're pleased that the DOT and EU have worked together to ensure that there is consistency in the number of slots that the three airlines have to give up to our competitors to use on services from Heathrow to the U.S. We made the pragmatic decision to give up these slot pairs so that we can start operating the joint business as soon as possible."

Under the joint business agreement, the three airlines will cooperate commercially on flights between the United States, Mexico and Canada, and the European Union, Switzerland and Norway while continuing to operate as separate legal entities. They will expand their codeshare arrangements on flights within and beyond the U.S. and European Union, significantly increasing the number of destinations that the airlines can offer customers.

The three airlines' combined route network will serve 433 destinations in 105 countries with 5,178 daily departures.

See other recent news regarding: Airlines, Airports, Awards, Flights, Codeshare, Lounges, First Class, Business Class, MICE, GDS, Rewards, Miles, Hotels, Apartments, Promotions, Spas, Yoga, Retreat, New Hotels, Traffic, Visitor Arrivals, Cruises, Free Deals, Videos, American Airlines, BA, British Airways, Iberia, oneworld