BA boss says will not give up Heathrow slots

Sun Aug 17, 2008 4:07pm BST

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LONDON (Reuters) - British Airways (BAY.L) 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 (AMR.N), 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 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 (IBLA.MC) 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)

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