British Airways is selling its $1.1 billion, 18.25 per cent...

British Airways is selling its $1.1 billion, 18.25 per cent stake in Qantas Airways, ending an 11-year stint as the largest shareholder in Australia's biggest airline group.

Investors in both companies could benefit over the longer term if BA's shares are spread widely to overseas and Australian investors, as BA intends.

But for passengers, it will be business as usual. The two groups will continue to be intimate commercial partners through an alliance that allows them to co-ordinate prices, marketing and customer service on the high-volume "Kangaroo Route" between Australia, Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom.

BA and Qantas each run 21 flights to the UK, and Qantas intends to boost its flights to 27 this year.

News late last month that Australia's competition regulator intended to approve the Qantas-BA alliance for another five years may have cleared the way for the share sale, which was on the cards for several years.