British Airways plans cuts at Gatwick, merger with Malaysian Airlines?

As per a Bloomberg article, in the face of continuing declines in global air travel,

British Airways Plc, Europe’s third- largest airline, will cut more than 100 jobs at London’s Gatwick airport as it reduces services there by 15 percent from mid-2009.

The number of aircraft based at the airport will be reduced to 37 from 41, the Harmondsworth, England-based airline said today in an e-mailed statement. The cuts to ground operations staffing will be on a voluntary basis, according to the statement.

The story also refers to the ongoing merger discussions between British Airways and fellow OneWorld partner Qantas.

In parallel I read about a PTI report about Malaysian Airlines seeking global partnerships. As per the report

Malaysia’s national carrier, Malaysia Airlines (MAS), is seeking partners to grow further but has not commented on reports that it is seeking a merger with British Airways and Australia’s Qantas. “We are in talks with a number of airlines on collaborating and creating synergies for growth. This ranges from Joint Ventures and code shares to interlining partnerships. For example, we have signed a memorandum of understanding with Qantas on a joint venture on maintenance, repair and overhaul,” Idris Jala, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, MAS said in a statement day before yesterday.

In Malaysian, Qantas will get access to the lucrative ASEAN, and intra-Asian routes, and will fulfill it's goals of becoming a truly global carrier. A Malaysian merger or partnership with also give the behemoth base level access to the ultra-large and very under-utilised Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). KLIA does have the potential to become a formidable competitor to Singapore's Changi Airport, a purpose for which former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammed championed its mammoth construction. It just needs the right amount of traffic, the amount a global carrier British Airways-Qantas-Malaysian will give.