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DALLAS (AP) -- Southwest Airlines Co. has agreed to pay $7.5 million for bankrupt ATA Airlines' landing slots at New York's LaGuardia Airport.

It's a move that would raise Southwest's profile in the nation's largest air market.

Southwest would get 14 slots -- enough to operate seven takeoffs and seven landings per day at LaGuardia.

The deal is dependent on approval by a U.S. bankruptcy court in Indianapolis, where ATA Airlines Inc. is based.

Southwest spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger today says -- if approved -- Southwest expects to begin flying to LaGuardia next year.

Dallas-based Southwest -- the nation's largest carrier by number of domestic passengers -- serves Islip Airport on Long Island but does not fly into LaGuardia, Kennedy or Newark, N.J., airports.

Indianapolis-based ATA filed for bankruptcy protection and grounded its planes in April.

ATA and Southwest had been marketing partners, selling seats on each other's flights -- an arrangement that netted Southwest about $50 million in annual revenue.

(Copyright ©2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)