British Airways and Spanish airline Iberia are said to be close to concluding merger talks.

The likely scenario is that a holding company will be set up which will 'buy' both airlines.

Branding is unlikely to change.

European competition authorities are unlikely to object, where mergers have  few network overlaps.

Ryanair’s hostile attempted takeover in 2007 of Aer Lingus being a recent exception, which  was blocked last year after a detailed Brussels investigation. The European Commission said a combination wouldAS it would of lead to a near-monopoly in the Irish market

BA and Iberia already operate a profit and revenue-sharing joint venture on their UK-Spain trunk routes between London and Madrid and Barcelona.

That will be important for future scrutiny by the competition regulators.

The joint venture was given antitrust immunity by the European competition authorities in December 2003 and has been operating since January 2005.