BA boss says will not give up Heathrow slots-paper

Sun Aug 17, 2008 10:45am EDT
LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh has vowed the airline will not surrender runway slots at Heathrow in order to land its proposed alliance with American Airlines , the Sunday Times reported.

Walsh told the paper that BA would not give up any of the prized slots, which have changed hands for 20 million pounds ($37.45 million) a pair, just as competition regulators are tipped to demand that the two carriers forego as many as 10 slot pairs a day.

"There should be no slot remedy, I don't see how it could be justified." he said.

Both airlines along with Spain's Iberia said on Thursday they had agreed to a transatlantic tie-up and would file for antitrust immunity from the U.S. Transportation Department and notify EU regulators.

BA, which is also in all-share merger talks with Iberia, holds over 40 percent of Heathrow's slots.

Reporting by Marc Roca; editing by Rory Channing)