Swiss cancel British Airways tie up

BRITISH Airways expressed 'regret' today after Swiss International Air Lines abandoned its attempt to join the OneWorld global airlines alliance.

The Swiss airline blamed problems integrating its frequent flyer programme into BA‘s executive club scheme for the decision. The move has revived speculation that the struggling Swiss carrier could tie up with German airline Lufthansa and enter the rival Star Alliance.

Besides BA and American Airlines, the OneWorld alliance includes Australia's Qantas, Cathay Pacific of Hong Kong, Spanish carrier Iberia, Chile's LanChile, Finnish carrier Finnair and Ireland's Aer Lingus.

The Star Alliance has 16 members, including Air Canada and United Airlines.

BA chief executive Rod Eddington said: 'We are disappointed that Swiss has decided to step back from our agreement, but we accept that it is up to Swiss to decide what is in its best interests.'

In September, Swiss and BA signed an agreement that gave the British carrier rights to eight of the Swiss airline‘s 14 prized daily slots at Heathrow airport.

Five of the slots were collateral for BA‘s support of a 50-million Swiss franc (then US$37m) credit facility for its new partner.

Swiss, created out of the defunct Swissair in March 2002, has reduced losses after implementing a radical restructuring programme.

BA flights suspended

BA was forced to cancel or suspend dozens of flights today after computerised air traffic control systems crashed. An official enquiry is likely after most flights at UK airports were either grounded, delayed or cancelled following the 55 minute computer crash early this morning. Airline sources say it will take most of the rest of the day to clear the backlog of passengers caused by the flight cancellations.