The owners of the Galileo and Apollo air reservation systems yesterday signed a letter of intent to merge the two to create Galileo International, 50%-owned by US airlines led by UAL Corp’s United Airlines, which has 50% of Apollo operator Covia Corp, Rosemont, Illinois, 50% by European airlines led by British Airways Plc, which will be the second largest shareholder with 15% behind United Airlines with 38%. The combined system will serve more than 25,000 travel agency locations worldwide. Galileo is based in Swindon, UK. The announcement will put pressure on European and US rivals Amadeus and AMR Corp’s Sabre, which had been in talks to effect a similar merger but were unable to agree terms at last year. It is likely that Galileo International will bring in Far East partners later.
