Virgin strategic review offers ‘once in a lifetime opportunity at Heathrow’
23.03.11
Sir Richard Branson's strategic review of airline Virgin Atlantic offers a ‘once-in-a-generation’ chance for Delta Air Lines and Air France-KLM Group to grow at Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, Bloomberg reports.
Sir Richard is considering options for his 51% stake in Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., whose 288 takeoff and landing slots at Heathrow are 3 percent of the total. A buyer would be able to use this slots to add lucrative flights to US and Asian business markets, Ray Neidl, senior aerospace specialist at Maxim Group in New York told Bloomberg. He said: ‘This is huge, and we’re probably never going to have this happen again in our lifetime.' Heathrow slots are ‘hard to come by even in ones and twos. It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity.’
Delta and Air France are reported to have appointed Goldman Sachs to advise them on a possible bid for Virgin Atlantic, 51% owned by Sir Richard and 49% by Singapore Airlines. Middle Eastern airlines are also reported to be interested in the airline, whilst Sir Richard has previously stated an interest in linking up with Lufthansa's Heathrow based subsidiary BMI.
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