Swiss International Airlines is close to joining Aer Lingus as part of the Oneworld alliance, according to Swiss chief executive Andre Dose.
Talks with British Airlines are still continuing but agreements between Swiss and the other Oneworld partners have already been reached, he said.
But negotiations with two other alliances led by Lufthansa and Groupe Air France, respectively, have been aborted, Dose said.
Mr Dose also said he is satisfied with the new airline's first-half results due to be published on Monday.
"We are on target and confident that we will end the year 2002 with a better result than the 1.1 billion Swiss francs loss envisaged under the current business plan," he said.
He said sales are currently 2 to 5 per cent above the year-earlier figure and that he believes a turnaround, expected for next year, is realistic.