By Edith Hancock

The U.K.'s competition regulator is seeking feedback on a new version of an offer five airlines made to ease concerns their transatlantic business agreement is hurting competition.

The Competition and Markets Authority on Thursday set a July 18 deadline to receive comments on concessions made by American Airlines, International Consolidated Airlines Group's British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus, and Finnair to end a probe into their joint venture.

The venture allows them to collaborate on offering flights to the U.S. and coordinate on flight schedules for improved connections.

The CMA provisionally said the agreement could distort competition for flights from London to Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Miami.

The CMA initially started seeking feedback on an earlier set of commitments that included offering up more airport slots to competing airlines last March, but said they could be strengthened. The airlines then tweaked their offer, making an extra slot available between London and Boston and changing certain terms and processes to make it easier for rivals to access them. "The CMA provisionally considers that the proposed commitments address the competition concerns identified," it said.

The airline agreement started in 2010 with a deal between American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia before the latter two merged, forming the holding company IAG. Finnair joined the agreement in 2013 followed by IAG subsidiaries Level Air in 2017 and Aer Lingus in 2021.

The U.K. regulator started probing the agreement in 2018, but paused its investigation during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Write to Edith Hancock at edith.hancock@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 03, 2025 10:55 ET (14:55 GMT)

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