EU regulators have paved the way for a trans-Atlantic alliance between British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia after the companies committed to competition safeguards.
The European Commission, the EU competition watchdog, has also cleared a BA merger with Spain's Iberia.
The European Commission had opened a probe in April 2009 over concerns that an agreement to co-operate on flights between North America and Europe could harm consumers on trans-Atlantic routes.
To ease concerns, the airlines offered to make landing and take-off slots available at London Heathrow airport to facilitate the entry or expansion of competitors on routes between London and New York, Boston, Dallas and Miami.
'After a market test, the commission concluded that the commitments offered were suitable to remedy the competition concerns and has closed its investigation,' the commission said in a statement.
The commission decided to make these commitments binding for 10 years and said it would appoint a trustee to oversee their implementation.
The commission said it co-operated closely with the US Department of Transportation, which is conducting its own parallel review under US rules.
