Finnair: oneworld immunity would be significant for North Atlantic competition

Finnair VP for oneworld relations, Paavo Virkkunen, stated (16-Feb-2010) anti-trust immunity for the proposed cooperation agreement between Finnair and its oneworld partners (American Airlines, Iberia, British Airways and Royal Jordanian) will be strategically important for the competitiveness of the alliance, as the Star and SkyTeam alliances already have immunity and it will be "highly significant" in balancing competition in North Atlantic traffic. The US Department of Transportation recently stated that it favours the granting of antitrust immunity to the carriers, with its preliminary decision to be finalised after a 45-day comment period. [more]