British Airways has announced a partnership with American Airlines and the Spanish carrier Iberia to boost its transatlantic services this summer.

Under the new joint agreement, daily flights from London's Heathrow airport to New York will depart on an hourly basis between 1pm and 8pm.

The new business understanding will also shorten the gap between any two morning departures to 90 minutes - a development that will have been noted by travel agencies and travel insurance companies.

Services from Chicago to London are set to leave approximately every hour between 5pm and 8pm, and the US-based carrier is also rescheduling departures from Miami to provide a more even spread.

BA has announced plans to begin daily flights from London Heathrow to San Diego on the Pacific coast of Southern California in the US from June 1.

The frequency of BA flights from London Gatwick to Cancun in Mexico will also be increased to three weekly services from March 27.