UK competition regulator to study British Airways trans-Atlantic alliance

Monday, 22 October 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

London (Reuters): Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it would investigate British Airways’ revenue-sharing partnership on trans-Atlantic routes ahead of the 2020 expiry of a previous competition deal agreed with the airlines.

British Airways, alongside American Airlines, Iberia and Finnair form the Atlantic Joint Business Agreement, a revenue-sharing joint venture which covers routes between Europe and North America and allows the partners to co-operate on pricing, capacity and schedules.

The UK regulator, the CMA, said in a statement on Thursday it would open an investigation into the partnership, adding that the case was at an early stage and no assumption should be made that it infringes competition law.

The CMA said it decided to study the partnership as commitments made by the airlines under a European Union competition probe from 2010 will expire in 2020. By that time, the UK will no longer be part of the EU.

The commitments made in 2010 mainly related to UK-U.S. routes. The CMA said the new investigation would apply UK and EU law.

British Airways and Iberia are both owned by IAG Group, which said in a statement it would respond to the review.

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event including Valentine ’s Day. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Flower Bouquets, Clothing, Watches, Lingerie, Gift Sets and Jewellery. Also if you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.