Report: IAG and Qatar in talks

It would seem IAG (or more specifically, BA) are in talks with Qatar Airways to launch a similar partnership to the Qantas-Emirates deal.

Qatar would be BA’s new partner on flights to Australia and Asia.

The most interesting part of the article is the potential Asian link. This suggests to me that BA have got fed-up with the slot restrictions at LHR and will now ‘outsource’ traffic to, the less restricted, DOH.

If this isn’t a clear sign to the government that LHR needs a third runway, I don’t know what is? Has it got to the stage where our national carrier must hand over passengers to a ME airline just so they can continue offering a competitive range of destinations and flight schedules?

I’m not sure if you’ll all be able to see it? But here’s the article.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/391e1fa0-f835-11e1-b0e1-00144feabdc0.html#axzz26GtIx3jE