Alliance of airlines is expected

Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong-based carrier, is expected to join British Airways and American Airlines in their planned worldwide alliance.

The inclusion of Cathay, likely to be announced on Monday, will strengthen BA and American in their battle against the six-airline Star Alliance, headed by United Airlines of the US and Lufthansa of Germany. Aer Lingus is currently embarking on a search for an alliance partner to allow it to link up with one of these major world alliances.

The BA-American partnership, yet to receive regulatory approval from the US and Britain, is also expected to include Qantas of Australia, Japan Airlines and Iberia, the Spanish carrier.

Airlines seek worldwide alliances because they say corporate travellers want travel to any destination from a single source. Carriers wanting to meet this demand cannot because of restrictions on foreign ownership of airlines.