Could British Airways merge with Qantas next?

© British Airways

Could British Airways, which announced its agreement to merge with Iberia just ten days ago, now be considering an alliance with Qantas, the Australian airline?

According to a report in today's Financial Times, the recent deal with Iberia clears the way for such a tie-up.

Talks between BA and Qantas foundered last year, after the airlines failed to come to an agreement, but Willie Walsh, BA's CEO, has now said that the structure of its deal with Iberia - a parent company, TopCo, and the airlines maintaining their separate brands - could be a template for other mergers.

Speaking about Qantas, Mr Walsh said: "You could look again there". Although, he added that European airlines were a more likely target and that political opposition to the discussions in Australia were a "major hurdle".

He said: "The media reaction was much more negative than I had expected.

"Having spent time and effort debating the issue first time round, you'd want to be pretty sure that those hurdles were not going to be insurmountable."

© Cheapflights Ltd

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