A long awaited tie up between Iberia and British Airways could be underway thanks to the stock market. Right now there has been a surge in stocks over the past few weeks. This could help ease the Spanish flag carrier’s fear, Iberia, about British Airways’ £2.1 billion pension deficit. This could in turn then lead to the link up everyone has been waiting for.

Iberia has been concerned about the massive deficit at British Airways for a long time. Right now the deficit at British Airways is close to £3 billion. The good news for British Airways is that this summer surged, which helped British Airways’ shares reach the highest value of this year and should help to boost the value of its overall fund.

These long running talks between the airlines could save each airline up to £200 million. Not only that, but it could give British Airways access to Iberia’s comprehensive Latin America network. Right now British Airways is very confident that it will finally gain antitrust immunity with American Airlines next month. This would help give it dominance on highly lucrative North Atlantic routes.

Drew Crawley, the British Airways director of sales and marketing, said that he was very confident that long haul premium traffic would come back over time. He went on to point out the launch of British Airway’s all business service from London City Airport to JFK in New York is proof. Airlines are use to making a lot of money from premium traffic, but lately these numbers have been falling the fastest. Airlines are hoping that this fall has finally slowed down.