Virgin to oppose British Airways deal

A takeover of airline BMI by the owner of British airways is to be challenged by Virgin.

By Martha Gill Published 16 April 2012
Virgin Atlantic will appeal, Getty images.
Virgin Atlantic will appeal, Getty images.

Virgin Atlantic will appeal against Brussel's approval of a takeover of the airline BMI by the owner of British Airways.

Virgin, which failed in its own bid for BMI, claims the decision was made at "lightning speed", and that the European Commission "seemingly ignored all of the strong cases" made against the deal.

IGA, owner of British Airways, along with Spain's Iberia, arranged to buy BMI back in December. Virgin opposed the deal at the time, saying it would thwart competition at Heathrow by giving BA market dominance.

Richard Branson, Virgin Atlantic’s president said they would continue to challenge the takeover, and claimed it would "undoubtedly damage the British airline industry for years to come", if it went through.

BMI, which owns 8.5 per cent of the landing slots at Heathrow, reported a £153m loss in the previous financial year. The deal could cost up to 1,200 jobs, according to IAG.

 
 

1 comment

Andrew Chapman's picture

Wed, 2012-06-13 15:31 — Andrew Chapman (not verified)

This is quite a good article. Many new questions emerge to the surface, all you need do is to read further information about the issues. Only then one can form a final view on a particular subject. Otherwise everything is seen only in the dimension of how to cum more black and white. The natural logic of pr agentura evaluating things before catering they were properly cognitively processed is a horrible mistake, made by those less intelligent. People should not throw away their common ubytovanie na slovensku sense easily. Anything and everything deserves appropriate time for making judgements.

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