A shopping list of 12 airlines has been drawn up by the British Airways and Iberia. This comes as a spending expedition just as soon as they are done with their merging. In this, they are looking for Asia to be in their focus for the expansion.

It has been reported by the CEO Willie Walsh that by the end of this year, the merger of these two airlines will be accomplished. After this agreement, the two airlines will be known as International Airlines Group (IAG) and they have listed 12 good targets that will be focused upon, once their talks finish.

Willie Walsh, the Irish businessman who is on the post of Executive in British Airways for 5 years, announced in Mumbai, India, that he is planning the world’s largest airline group. The plan includes taking acquisition of about 12 other airline groups, including British Airways (BA) and Iberia, the Spanish alley airline.

Troubled British Airways is going to hold fresh talks with cabin crew leaders on Monday, in a bid to avert another wave of strikes.

Members of the Unite union, which represents more than ninety per cent of the BA cabin crew, have already turned down airline's "final" pay offer last month. Derek Simpson, joint leader at Unite union, said that BA had been maintaining this dispute without any sense.

The Unite union also threatened that it would go to ballot for further strikes sometime in September.

Disruptions caused by cabin crew strikes and the Icelandic volcanic ash dragged British Airways into the red, forcing it to report a pre-tax loss of £164 million for the period of three months ended June, despite an improving performance.

The London-based airline reported an operating loss of £72 million for the April-June quarter as compared with an operating loss of £94 million in the year ago period.

BA said cabin crew strikes and ash cloud disruption cost the company around £250 million between the start of April and end of June.

The Unite union has said that it would go to the court against the decision of British Airways over the travel concession removal issue for the cabin crew members involved in the month long strike.

The Unite union, which represents a total number of 11,000 cabin crew of the British Airways has said that, the decision of the management as a breach of the human rights law of Europe. It has also said the concessions were removed without proper procedures.

British Airways has accused Qantas Airways of getting involved in an air cargo price-fixing alliance. However, the Australian carrier has declined to comment on the issue and is waiting for an official confirmation.

The Times has revealed that BA has confirmed its involvement in the issue.

The cabin crews of the British Airways have denied accepting the latest pay offer from the airline. Almost half of the members of Unite union have rejected the new offer from BA of a pay rise of 2.9% in the next year with a pay rise of 3% a year after.

Meanwhile the Unite union has said that, the British Airways to carry on the fresh talks to avoid further strikes in near future.

US regulators have approved the trans-Atlantic alliance among American Airlines, British Airways and Spanish national carrier Iberia.

European regulators have already paved the way for the trans-Atlantic alliance. BA and American Airlines will now merge their transatlantic wings, cooperating on ticketing and coordinating schedules.

Cooperation on flights would help the concerned airline to slash costs and face tough market conditions efficiently as these airlines have been struggling with falling number of passengers and industrial turbulence.

In the recent news the British Airways cabin crew have rebuffed the airline's latest so called the final pay offer by 3,419 votes to 1,686.

Approximately half of the 11,000 pretentious Unite union members nominated on BA's tender of a 2.9% pay hike in the next year with 3% the year after.

The no vote hoisted up the possibility of fresh strikes in a argument that has grudges starting from the back to before Christmas.

The EU has opened the way for the American Airlines and British Airways to work combined in this critical situation of market crisis.

The EU commission has said that it would allow the airlines to work together on the business and allow them for coordinating schedules and fares. This new plan still needs to be backed by US under which the airlines would share their costs.

The members of Oneworld British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia won the EU antitrust green light on Wednesday to intensify their deal after nodding to the yield some well paid trans-Atlantic paths.

According to the European Commission, the EU opposition watchdog, also categorically cleared British Airways' amalgamation with Spain's Iberia.

Further the Oneworld members expect to stretch their deal to take benefit of the Open Skies agreement done between the United States and the European Union, which slackens the trans-Atlantic aviation.

British Airways seems to be running out of endurance with an industrial argument over salary and circumstances by cabin crew, the company's chairman expressed to its shareholders in its annual general meeting on Tuesday.

Martin Broughton expressed that the Board's endurance with BASSA has now been depleting but the group shall sought out ways to manage it pointing towards the current strikes over salary and working environment by the members of BASSA, the cabin crew wing of trade union Unite.

According to the airport operating authority of UK, BAA the number of passenger of its airlines has fallen down in the month of June this year because of the long strike of British Airways.

The passenger numbers of BAA's airports has fallen down by 1.7% as compared to the same month last year. BAA has also informed that without the impact of the strike it was expecting same number of passengers as the previous year.

Six airports in the UK are under the operation of BAA. The names of these airports are Glasgow, Southampton, Aberdeen, Stansted, Heathrow and Edinburgh.

British Airways has made a fresh offer to its cabin crew, in a bid to put an end to long-running dispute over pay and work conditions and to avert further strikes.

The new offer promises guaranteed pay increases for the next two years, along with top-up payments. Conditions and promotion opportunities have also been promised. But, the main issue- withdrawal of travel concessions will remain as it is.

BA cabin crew chief Bill Francis said that they had altered their offer according to feedback they received from crew.

What could be worse for them, after the Icelandic ash cloud, the ongoing tensions of strikes by the British Airways cabin staff and the cherry on the cake is the snow over the winter has geared a £10m dent in the hopes of BAA's earnings for the year.

During the yesterday predictions led by the airports operator, owned by Spain's Ferrovial, depicted a £946m in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization in 2010. He further forecasted the numbers to be 85.2 million in the passengers filing through its terminals.