EU Warns American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia of Antitrust Concerns

The commission said the alliance “may be in breach of European rules on restrictive business practices”. Photo by BGNES

The EC has sent antitrust complaints to American Airlines, British Airways, and Spain's Iberia regarding a proposed trans-Atlantic alliance.

The European Commission, the EU’s antitrust authority, said in a statement today that the airlines received so-called statements of objections in relation to their planned agreement on coordinating commercial, operational and marketing activities on trans-Atlantic routes.

The commission said the alliance “may be in breach of European rules on restrictive business practices.”

American, British Airways and Iberia are seeking antitrust clearance to cooperate on flights between the US, Mexico and Canada and the EU, Switzerland and Norway. The carriers requested the immunity last year.

British Airways and American are seeking approval for the third time, saying it’s needed for their Oneworld partnership to compete against the Star Alliance and SkyTeam groups. The carriers last scrapped a plan in 2002 after US regulators signaled they would require some flights to be surrendered to competitors.

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