Commercial pact signed

British Airways PLC
23 September 2003







COMMERCIAL PACT SIGNED WITH SWISS



British Airways and Swiss International Airlines today signed a legally binding
memorandum of understanding under which the two airlines envisage entering into
a commercial agreement.



British Airways and Swiss plan joint operations between the UK and Switzerland
with codesharing on London Heathrow Swiss routes from October 26 that will give
both airlines' customers convenient access to worldwide destinations via London
and Zurich.



The Swiss frequent flyer scheme will be gradually integrated into the British
Airways' Executive Club.  Miles already earned with Swiss will retain their
current validity.



In addition, BA will enter into a slot exchange agreement for eight Heathrow
daily slot pairs from Swiss.



Swiss will also enter the oneworld alliance, of which British Airways is a
founder member.  This will provide the grouping with an additional high-quality
carrier and an important additional airport hub in central Europe, serving one
of the world's most important financial centres and providing customers with
greater choice of destination, airline and global alliance.  (See separate press
release from oneworld for further details).



Rod Eddington, chief executive of British Airways, said:  'I am delighted to
welcome Swiss into the oneworld alliance.  This commercial deal will benefit
both British Airways and the new Swiss, which has a quality product, network and
hub in Zurich which makes it a logical fit to oneworld in Central Europe.'



Andre Dose, chief executive officer of Swiss said:  'We are proud to be a member
of oneworld, the world's leading international alliance.  Swiss as well as
oneworld clients will benefit from the enhanced network and the joint frequent
flyer programmes.'



ends



23, September 2003              125/KG/03




                                             Commercial pact signed with Swiss/2

Notes to editors



  • The codeshare destinations on London Heathrow Swiss routes are Geneva,
    Basle, and Zurich.
  • British Airways will support a CHF50 million credit facility for Swiss to
    be secured against slots at London Heathrow airport.




                                   British Airways                    Swiss

Destinations                       220                                71
Daily departures                   1,385                              388
Employees                          44, 612                            6, 500
Fleet                              312                                79
Operating revenue                  £7, 688 million                    CHF 4,395 million
Operating profit                   £295 million                       -CHF 5, 304 million
Frequent flyer program             Executive club                     Swiss TravelClub
Airport lounges                    222                                76
Chief Executive                    Rod Eddington                      Andre Dose
Headquarters                       London, UK                         Basle, Switzerland
Year of formation                  Traces its origins back to 1919    2002
Ownership                          Publicly quoted company, with      Owned by Swiss federal government
                                   shares traded on the London and    (20.5%), cantons, institutional
                                   New York Stock Exchanges           and small private investors
Website address                    Ba.com                             Fly-swiss.com






Certain information included in this statement is forward-looking and involves
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those expressed or implied by the forward looking statements.



Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, projections relating to
results of operations and financial conditions and the Company's plans and
objectives for future operations, including, without limitation, discussions of
the Company's 'Future Size and Shape' programme, expected future revenues,
financing plans and expected expenditures and divestments.  All forward-looking
statements in this report are based upon information known to the Company on the
date of this report.  The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or
revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.



It is not reasonably possible to itemise all of the many factors and specific
events that could cause the Company's forward looking statements to be incorrect
or that could otherwise have a material adverse effect on the future operations
or results of an airline operating in the global economy.  Information on some
factors which could result in material difference to the results is available in
the Company's SEC filings, including, without limitation the Company's Report on
Form 20-F for the year ended March 2003.



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