USA: BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC - AIRLINES FIGHT FOR SHARE OF BRITISH AIRWAY'S MARKET.

To establish a global brand, the big players in the airline game have to bite into BA's market. Matthew Lynn reports on the contest Under way.

A slight frown flicks onto Mike Batt's face. The director of North American routes for British Airways pauses for a minute. And then he says: 'I'll have to give you the view from upstairs on that question.' He had reason to pause; he was about to tread into some swampy ground. The question had been: does he expect BA to lose market share on its valuable North American routes, an arena where it has commanded the loyalty of 40% of passengers flying over the ocean.

And the answer? 'Lord King and Sir Colin Marshall (chairman and managing director of BA respectively) expect us to hold market share,' he says. 'But I think they understand we may lose some of our market. What we are really talking about here is holding as much as we can.