o, The airline is then only acting as an agent for the new carrier.
Extract from general conditions of carriage.
Quote:
15g) General
15g1) If we:
issue a ticket for you to be carried on another carrier; or
check in baggage for carriage on another carrier;
we do so only as agent for that carrier. If you have a claim for checked baggage, you may make it against the first or last carrier or against the carrier performing the carriage during which the damage took place.
BA cannot change the law by writing conditions that suit the company. This could well be regarded as an unfair contract, even if the basic premise that they are "only acting as an agent" is arguable. For a start, the purchaser has not been offered a look at the other carrier's Terms & Conditions which BA is trying to say are applicable ones.
More people should use the Small Claims procedure without hesitation as soon as they come up against a large company acting unfairly. It's inexpensive and effective not least because the large company will, if it suspects it might lose, settle to avoid a judgement.