BA and AA look at codesharing in SA

BRITISH Airways and American Airlines (AA) are asking the US department of Transport (DoT) for permission to enter into a codeshare agreement in South Africa among other markets. This would provide AA with continuity here following a decision by South African Airways to drop AA in preference to Delta. The airlines asked the US DoT for authority to place the AA designator code on BA's flights between London and Johannesburg, and London and Cape Town. This would effectively mean AA could market a South African service as its own even though it does not operate its own equipment to the destination. AA and BA have struck the same deal to Cairo, Dar es Salaam, Entebbe, Lusaka, Harare, Lilongwe, Lusaka, Mahe, Mauritius and Nairobi. The carriers' plans also extend to Europe and the UK. Although the US government scuppered BA and AA's original alliance because it verged on being a monopoly on certain transatlantic routes, the airlines are now using a different tack: the proposed routes don't require anti-trust immunity, according to Don Carty, American's chairman and ceo. BA's Johannesburg-based sales manager, Vicky Sinclair said that next year BA would use the strength of its oneworld alliance partners which include AA - to negotiate corporate deals. (Mark Gray)