American Airlines and British Airways plan to run a high frequency transatlantic shuttle service between Heathrow and New York.
The partner carriers aim to rework their schedules to offer regular flights between 08.00 and midnight from the start of the summer 2011 timetable on March 27, according to US reports.
There will be 11 return flights a day, with BA operating seven and American four – a reduction of one daily service by the US carrier.
An American Airlines’ spokesman reportedly said: “”The [US] DOT and the European Union required us to give up several slot pairs to obtain approval for our joint business.
“One of those pairs was on the JFK-LHR route, so one slot pair given up was funded by AA going from five to four roundtrips.
“From a joint business perspective, it does not matter which airline operates the route – we routinely share revenue, schedule decisions and marketing under the joint business.
“In the end, our joint customers are seeing service on the route more than double, which is a huge benefit and convenience.”