Spanish surprise has given way to irritation and now, apparently, anger. Fernando Conte, Iberia’s chief executive, fumes that British Airways must choose between merging with the Spanish carrier or Qantas, but not both, as a near-simultaneous three-way merger is “too complex”. It would be tricky. But, having spent a year talking to BA, Mr Conte’s indignation is only a negotiating tactic to get back into the deal.

Imagine the process begins with a BA/Qantas merger of equals. The result would be a dual-listed company, with separate stock listings in Sydney and London. Legal ownership, however, would vary according to certain routes, so as to keep the landing rights assigned to national carriers. Some of BA’s routes, for example, can be flown only by a majority-European-owned airline, and vice-versa. The gamble is that this can be resolved by legally ring-fencing certain routes into units subsidiary to the BA/Qantas holding company.