Sir Richard Branson has hired German Deutsche Bank to assess the airline’s position in the market following British Airways’ tie-up with American Airlines and Iberia merger.
Assessors will work out how Sir Richard should move forward and whether he should relinquish his 51% share of the company and move on, according to the Daily Telegraph.
They will look at potential partnership airlines for Virgin Atlantic, which is 49% owned by Singapore Airlines, such as Lufthansa or a Middle Eastern carrier like Etihad or Emirates.
As the airline industry fast consolidates, Virgin Atlantic has started to look a little out on the fringes as it is not in any of the airline groups, Star Alliance, SkyTeam or BA’s Oneworld.
And with BA’s relationships with AA and merger with Iberia meaning the three have control of two fifths of Heathrow’s take off and landing slots, Sir Richard has sensed it is time to assess his airline’s positioning.
The Telegraph also suggests that one option for Sir Richard is a merger with Bmi which has 10% of Heathrow’s slots and a schedule that could integrate nicely with 30 Virgin Atlantic destinations.
by Dinah Hatch
