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Hello and welcome to the The Atlantic Update providing a weekly bulletin on developments on transatlantic travel between Europe and North America.
The Atlantic Update Takes A Summer Break
This will be the last Atlantic Update for a few weeks as it takes a break for the summer.
This is partly as it is a relatively quiet period for news and also to accommodate a special series for the summer which launches next Monday, 22 July 2019. The Atlantic Update will return on Wednesday 4 September 2019.
In terms of developments to watch over the coming weeks:
It is usually at this time of year that BA announces a new transatlantic route for next summer from London Heathrow with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Previous routes have been Austin, San Jose, New Orleans, Nashville and Pittsburgh. All of these, bar Pittsburgh, had no direct link to Europe which gives a clue as to likely contenders for a new route. That said, there has to be a point where BA has exhausted new transatlantic route options, at least with the 787.
On the subject of BA and transatlantic routes, last year the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) announced it was to investigate the transatlantic joint-business involving BA, and American Airlines, Finnair and Iberia.
The basis for this was that the commitments made by the joint-business in 2010 when it was reviewed by the European Commission are due to expire and in light of the UK’s planned departure from the European Union, the CMA has opened a fresh review of the joint-business.
Following an initial information gathering exercise, in April the CMA opened a full investigation which is due to conclude this summer.
What can be said with confidence is that there will have been intense lobbying by JetBlue for slots at London Heathrow.
Also, nothing can be taken for granted as far as the CMA is concerned. It has taken a tough line in other cases. It effectively killed a planned merger between two UK supermarket chains, ASDA and Sainsbury’s. Also, when Amazon recently acquired a minority interest in the food delivery service Deliveroo during a funding round, the CMA issued an initial enforcement order barring any integration between the two businesses, ahead of a decision whether to carry out a formal investigation.
Also of note this week:
A heat wave is forecast this week for many Central and Eastern states. (National Weather Service)
The Atlantic Update returns on Wednesday 4 September. Join us next Monday 22 July, for the launch of a special series for the summer. You can always get in touch by dropping an e-mail to [mail @ londonairtravel.com]
