It now seems that British Airways passengers may no longer be able to fly to South America. This news comes following an announcement about the merger between British Airways and Iberia. Analysis now say that, due to the tie up, the airline might have to drop some of its direct flights to the continent. Passengers may have to now fly to Madrid and then board an Iberia flight, which would allow British Airways to offer more extra flights from Heathrow to more profitable destinations.

As of right now British Airways operates daily services to Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo, as well as three flights a week to Rio de Janeiro. Some other destinations in South America normally entail taking a connecting flight from the United States.

Right now with Heathrow just about to burst with so many flights, many analysts say that British Airways will tempt to route passengers to South America via Spain. Slots at Heathrow, or the right to take off and land an aircraft, are very valuable. These slots can be worth as much as £20 million.

For Madrid, it has plenty of capacity and the merger could give British Airways some much needed breathing room, as far as being able to extend its network in South America without having to add any more routes from Heathrow.

As of right now, a British Airways spokesman declined to discuss any kind of specific routes. However, the airline did hint that there could be a review of where each airline flies coming up soon. He went on to say, by combining the relative strengths of the two networks, it puts the company in a strong position in North America, Asia, and Africa. Iberia already has a strong position in Latin American, and thus, British Airways would be able to offer customers more destinations and better frequencies.