American, BA May Have to Give Up Slots

BRUSSELS (TheStreet) -- European regulators have informed British Airways (BAY), AMR's(AMR) American Airlines and Spain's Iberia they could be forced to give up take-off and landing slots if they want their Oneworld planned transatlantic tie-up to go ahead, a report says.

According to documents seen by the Financial Times, the European Commission says the agreement the three airlines signed last year is "likely to result in appreciable competitive harm" on seven Europe/U.S. routes.

Remedies could include the transfer of airport slots to other carriers, the commission says, according to the Financial Times .

The routes in question are the lucrative London-New York routes, where authorities say the planned alliance would give British Airways and American enough power to raise first and business-class fares, the newspaper reports. Brussels also has concerns about services between London and Dallas, Boston, Miami and Chicago, as well as the Madrid-Miami and Madrid-Chicago routes.

The European Commission sent a letter last month to the three airlines, saying the Oneworld alliance may be in breach of European antitrust rules. The airlines were given a month to respond.

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