THE UK CIVIL Aviation Authority has overturned a British Airways application for additional frequencies on British Mediterranean's (BMA's) core London-Beirut service, should more slots become available under the bilateral agreement between the UK and Lebanon.
Of the seven weekly frequencies allocated to the two airlines in 1994, five were given to BMA and the remainder to BA. BA has been attempting to limit BMA to five weekly flights, arguing that there is unfair capacity-sharing between the two UK carriers.
BMA managing director Des Hetherington says that BMA is pressing the UK Department of Transport to start negotiations with Lebanon to extend the bilateral to enable the carrier to provide a daily service. BMA's planned routes to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have been postponed to late 1996, pending future negotiations between the three Governments.
Source: Flight International
