BA is looking for private equity partners to join it in a bid for Spanish flagship carrier Iberia.
The British, carrier which owns a 10% stake in its oneworld alliance partner, said it had approached "a number of private equity companies about making a consortium offer for Iberia."
The private equity companies are understood to include Texas Pacific Group (TPG) which has already made an independent bid of 3.4bn for Iberia, and Apax Partners.
BA said that any consortium was "likely" to include one or more Spanish partner.
But the airline made clear in its statement that any consortium bid would "not involve further capital investment by British Airways."
The statement concludes: "British Airways has not made a final decision about the future of its share holding in Iberia and continues to examine numerous options including full disposal.
"However, it has ruled out an independent bid for the airline."
Premier Travel Inn profits up 20.3%
The operating profit for Premier Travel Inn (PTI), the UK's largest hotel group, rose by 20.3% to £156.2m for the year ending March 1.
Revenue in the 12 months increased by 16.7% from £392.9m to £458.5m while revenue per available room rose by 4.8% to £37.68.
For the first time, PTI said profit per room now exceeded £5,000.
Occupancy for the year was 79.5% while 50% of reservations were now made online.
Alan Parker, ceo of PTI's parent company Whitbread plc, described the year's performance as "strong" and driven by an accelerated growth programme.
During the year, PTI increased the number of its room by 2,500 on 19 new sites. This included the acquisition of seven Holiday Inns.
It has a rooms target of 45,000 in the UK by 2010-2011.
PTI also started work on its first overseas property during the year in Dubai. The company said it was also "assessing further opportunities outside the UK."
* see BTE's recruitment site www.businesstraveljobs.com