British Airways’ owner IAG wants to create a new joint venture with Latin American carrier LATAM.
IAG’s chief executive Willie Walsh said that the company had an “ambition” to create a new tie-up with LATAM, which was created from the merger of South American carriers LAN and TAM last year.
“We have the ambition to establish an immunised joint venture with LATAM similar to the one we already have with American Airlines on the north Atlantic,” said Walsh during a conference call with financial analysts.
“The relationship we have currently got with LATAM is principally between Iberia and LAN but that relationship will be extended to TAM and BA. We want to strengthen what has been a very strong relationship between Iberia and LAN.”
Any joint venture between IAG and LATAM would have to secure anti-trust immunity from competition authorities on both sides of the Atlantic.
Current Star Alliance member TAM is set join sister carrier LAN in the Oneworld alliance on March 31 next year. BA is a founding member of Oneworld.
Walsh said that he was still “optimistic” that the merger between American Airlines and US Airways would go ahead despite the intervention of the US Department of Justice, which has filed a lawsuit against the merger.
A court case is due to start later this month (November 25) on the merger but the two airlines have also entered mediation talks with the DOJ to try to resolve their differences.
“We have not had any discussions with our counterparts at American – they are focused on their scheduled court case with the DOJ,” added Walsh. “We don’t see any benefit from the merger accruing to us in 2014, it is likely to come through in 2015 and beyond.”