BRITISHMidland has stepped up pressure on the Government to agree an open-skies deal by claiming that transatlantic economy prices are set to rise.
The airline says British Airways’ plan to switch to smaller Boeing 777s from B747s on UK-US routes will hit economy capacity forcing prices to escalate.
British Midland group managing director Austin Reid said the carrier should be allowed to fly on Heathrow-US routes to provide additional economy seats.
At the moment only BA, Virgin Atlantic, United Airlines and American Airlines are allowed to serve the US from Heathrow.
Reid claimed up to 18,500 seats could be lost when BA starts to use the B777s.
Last week, British Midland issued an ultimatum to the Government to conclude bilateral talks before Christmas (Travel Weekly September 13).
BA is to use the smaller aircraft, but looks to increase business-class capacity to improve yields.