International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG.LN) said
Thursday that the joint business its subsidiaries British Airways
and Iberia have with American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) has been
extended to include American's merger partner, US Airways, in a
deal that would boost the group's trans-Atlantic routes, revenue
and traffic.
IAG's Atlantic joint business is a revenue-sharing agreement
under which member airlines have permission to coordinate schedules
and pricing on North Atlantic routes. The arrangement now includes
all scheduled flights between North America and Europe operated by
Oneworld Alliance members American and US Airways, which merged
Dec. 9, along with British Airways, Iberia and Finnair.
US Airways brings 28 trans-Atlantic routes to the table, 27 of
which are new to the alliance. IAG said that customers of British
Airways and Iberia now will have access to more than 50 additional
new destinations in North America. These include direct flights
from London and Manchester, England, to Charlotte, N.C.;
Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh to Philadelphia; and Madrid and
Barcelona to Philadelphia and Charlotte.
IAG said the extended business would enable feeder traffic from
more than 240 destinations in North America to connect through
American and US Airways' nine hubs for trans-Atlantic flights.
Separately Thursday, IAG said that group premium traffic, from
its long-haul operations, increased by 8.6% in March compared with
the same period last year. Overall traffic, measured in revenue
passenger kilometers, increased by 10.2% year-over-year.
Write to Marietta Cauchi at marietta.cauchi@wsj.com
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