BA ditches excess baggage for US tie-up

British Airways yesterday risked renewed acrimony over transatlantic cooperation by applying for permission to codeshare with American Airlines on dozens of routes from Europe and America.

The proposal is a slimmed-down version of an alliance between the two airlines effectively blocked in January when the US government imposed dozens of conditions.

Under the plan, submitted to the US transport department, BA will put its code on American's flights from gateway cities such as New York and Washington to smaller destinations in the US, Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America.

American will have similar access to BA flights from London to destinations in Britain, Ireland, Africa and Asia.

Codesharing allows the two airlines to sell tickets on each other's flights. They can share check-in facilities, cooperate on baggage handling and coordinate connections. Andrew Cahn, BA's director of government affairs, said: "This isn't a repeat of our big anti-trust filing. This is a very light cooperation - it's something which large numbers of airlines do."

BA is Europe's biggest airline, while American is the largest in the world. Rival carriers have campaigned furiously to prevent any cooperation between them on the grounds that they could gain market dominance.

In a concession, the pair dropped plans to codeshare on sought-after routes from Heathrow to the US. They are among just four carriers allowed transatlantic slots at Heathrow, alongside United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.

Virgin yesterday called on regulators to apply "close scrutiny" to the plans. Critics pointed out that Sir Richard Branson's airline had few grounds to complain, because it has a codesharing deal with Continental Airlines.

BMI British Midland said it had no problem with the plan in principle. The airline, which has been trying to gain access to transatlantic slots at Heathrow, said it would "vigorously oppose" any further moves to dominate UK to US routes by the two carriers.

BA admitted it expected a firm line from the US authorities, which could withhold permission as a bargaining chip to persuade the British government to open up Heathrow. Mr Cahn said: "I think we may have difficulties - political considerations may intervene."