British Airways and American Airlines to launch JV in Oct-2010

British Airways' VP Americas, Simon Talling-Smith, stated the carrier's trans-Atlantic JV with American Airlines will be launched in Oct-2010, with the carriers to align their FFPs, and commence joint marketing to corporate clients in early 2011 and implement schedule changes from Apr-2011 (Bloomberg/Dow Jones, 08-Sep-2010). Iberia will also be part of the JV when it completes its merger with BA, with Iberia expected to contribute 10% to the venture's estimated USD7 billion in annual revenue, according to Mr Talling-Smith.