Swiss deal with American Airlines

March 27, 2002 Posted: 3:10 AM EST

ZURICH, Switzerland (CNN) - Switzerland's new national airline Swiss has chosen American Airlines as its transatlantic partner and is aiming for full membership in the Oneworld alliance this year.

Swiss chief executive Andre Dose, whose carrier is due to begin service on March 31, confirmed the decision to CNN on Tuesday, ending speculation about which U.S. airline it would partner.

Swiss, created after the failure last year of Swissair, had been in talks with other major alliances like Skyteam, which incudes Air France and Delta Air Lines, and Star, which couples Lufthansa and United Airlines.

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American is part of the Oneworld alliance, which includes British Airways. Swissair and American were partners under the Oneworld banner. As part of the alliance, Swiss and BA would be the dominant carriers for routes between the UK and Switzerland.

"American is going to be our transatlantic partner and we are aiming for a Oneworld full membership in this coming year," Dose said in an interview on Tuesday in Zurich.

He said Swiss, which is being created out of the former regional carrier Crossair, will be a no-frills airline and geared to business travellers.

Rival no-frills carriers, such as EasyJet, are expected to ask European Commission regulators to force BA and Swiss to give up some of their landing slots at Britain's Heathrow airport if Swiss becomes a member of Oneworld.

Airlines have been facing declining revenue in the past year, due to the economic slowdown and a decline in passengers after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Swissair collapsed in October, followed by Belgium carrier Sabena.

Meanwhile, Swiss could could pay $400 million to $500 million in cash for 13 Airbus A340-300 planes made by EADS. The planes would replace 13 Boeing MD-11 long-haul aircraft with Airbus A340-300 planes between 2003 and 2004.

Thomas Hofmann, Swiss' finance director, told a news conference that details of the deal should be completed by April 15.

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