The US Department of Transportation has tentatively approved the inclusion of Aer Lingus into the oneworld multi airline joint venture alliance covering transatlantic routes.
The JV currently includes American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia and Finnair.
With Are Lingus, the alliance would command 59% of the US-Ireland market, but the DOT says there are no anti-trust concerns with competition from United Airlines, Delta and Norwegian Air prior to the pandemic.
DOT said it ‘would be unlikely to impact competition for 90% of US-Europe passengers’ as Aer Lingus’ share of overall US-Europe traffic is only about 3%.
Final DOT approval would let Aer Lingus join the other carriers to jointly schedule and market flights together.
The Irish carrier is part of IAG, which is the parent of both British Airways and Iberia.
Written by Ray Montgomery, US Editor
