Aer Lingus has insisted its plan to join the Oneworld group remains on track, despite reports that the US government may block the American Airways (AA) and British Airways (BA) element of the global alliance of airlines.
Spokesmen for BA and AA also insisted last night that talks with Aer Lingus on becoming part of Oneworld would continue and would be unaffected by any US government decision.
However, the US is reportedly set to reject the application for the BA/AA link-up. Its decision will follow the British and US governments' failure to agree an aviation accord. The US had made such an accord a precondition for approving the alliance.
Industry sources said the idea of codesharing - whereby airlines agree to buy so many seats on another airline's aircraft, but market the flight as their own, in their country - was one aspect of the alliance which may be causing the US government some concern.
The Oneworld alliance would be the world's most powerful grouping.
An Aer Lingus spokesman said last night that reports the US government would block the BA/AA link-up would have no bearing on its discussions with both airlines. "This is only something which would impact on American Airlines' relationship with British Airways and vice versa," he said.
BA and AA have already said that they would continue to work together within the regulatory framework.
A British Airways spokesman said the BA/AA tie-up is a separate issue from the Oneworld alliance and "therefore has nothing to do with the alliance partners".
At present Oneworld includes Qantas of Australia, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific of Hong Kong, Iberia of Spain and Finnair.
It was established to challenge groups such as the Star Alliance which is led by Lufthansa of Germany and United Airlines from the US.
The BA spokesman said the airlines had received no final notification from the regulators.
He said the two airlines had been working together for three years and would broaden and deepen Oneworld as best they could.
"The Aer Lingus talks are still very much on," he said, adding that it would not affect relationships with any other alliance member.
An American Airlines spokesman said any decision by US regulators on AA and BA was "really not linked at all to the Aer Lingus issue".
He said that "regardless of what happens we are still moving ahead with the Aer Lingus alliance".
Irrespective of the outcome it is likely that Aer Lingus will still pursue an alliance with American Airlines, at the very least.
The Irish airline has made no secret of the fact that it wants to develop its transatlantic traffic because it yields the highest revenue. Allying to an airline such as American would enable the company to seamlessly feed traffic from the Republic to all over the US.
