British airline bmi british midland, which operates services on the Dublin-London Heathrow route, said today it is confident that it will be launching transatlantic services from London Heathrow in 2002.
Sir Michael Bishop, chairman of bmi, said, "We have sought formal clearance of our alliance with United Airlines from the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) as well as informing the European Commission in Brussels."
He said he is confident the application will receive swift approval, as the alliance will create new competition on transatlantic routes.
He continued "Much appears in the media today about the success of the so called ‘low cost - no frills’ carriers and the impact they have had on further reducing fares and expanding markets.
"The catalyst for that change and the success of such airlines was the creation of open skies within the European Community."
He said consumers have been denied the similar benefits of an open skies agreement between London and the US.