Etihad of Abu Dhabi Says `No Firms Talks' Planned for Merger

By Glen Carey

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, has ``no firm talks'' planned to partner another carrier after media reports said the airline opened discussions on a merger with BMI of the U.K.

``Etihad Airways, which has a commercial mandate to break even by 2010 and which is the focus within our business, has no firm talks planned with any airline or any proposals in the pipeline with any new possible partner,'' the Abu Dhabi-based airline's spokesman Thomas Clarke said today in an e-mailed statement.

Etihad has opened discussions on a merger with BMI that may value the U.K. airline at as much as 600 million pounds ($1.1 billion), the Sunday Times reported today, citing unidentified people in the Persian Gulf familiar with the situation.

Buying BMI, which owns 11 percent of the take-off and landing slots at Heathrow, would give Etihad the second- strongest position at the London airport, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Glen Carey in Dubai at gcarey8@bloomberg.net.