The U.S. Department of Transportation approved Brussels Airlines' participation in an antitrust-immune joint venture that includes Air Canada, Lufthansa and United.

Brussels now can work with those partners on "joint advertising and marketing programs, joint fares, joint bids for government and corporate travel accounts, revenue sharing, and the coordination of code sharing and operations for the carriers' international services," according to DOT. Regulators concluded that the carrier's inclusion in the JV "will provide incremental benefits for consumers in a number of markets, particularly in North America-Africa markets."