Mr. Joe Thompson:

I believe the main precedent to look back on and learn from is the experience with the International Airlines Group acquisition of British Midland International. As part of the competitive remedy the European Commission applied certain requirements. One condition for the approval of the transaction was that British Airways, as the acquirer of British Midland International, had to engage in interline agreements with the legacy partners of British Midland International to ensure that consumers who had been able to make use of those connecting routings were able to continue to do so in future. Therefore, there is a precedent in this regard that was applied by the European Commission.

I believe some lessons have been learned from that experience with regard to the extent of those interline agreements and the number of routings on which they should apply to ensure that consumer interests are protected across the breadth of destinations to which customers wish to travel. Several factors are in place to enable connections between carriers, including commitments on minimum connecting times through to check-in of bags and passengers in order that customers can receive their onward boarding passes at their point of origin and competitive fare rates to deal with the remuneration of funds between the two parties in order to ensure competitive fares can be offered. All of these need to be considered. There is a precedent of sorts from the BA BMI deal, albeit one which we believe should be enhanced to ensure it is more effective. That precedent could be learned from and the lessons applied in the case of IAG and Aer Lingus.