In any playground you need friends. In one as brutal as the airline industry, allies are essential. So it is no great surprise that British Airways, American Airlines and Spain’s Iberia are to consider some form of joint venture.

BA and AA have wanted to work together for more than a decade, but have twice been frustrated by regulators; in 1997, and again in 2001 when the UK airline considered sacrificing 224 landing slots at its home base of Heathrow too great a price too pay. However, since the “open skies” agreement came into force in March this year, allowing any national operator to fly between any two points within the European Union and the US, the landscape has shifted.