Virgin warns BA and AA alliance would create monopoly

Virgin Atlantic’s chief executive is warning that an alliance between British Airways and American Airlines would create a stranglehold on both Heathrow and JFK airports.

The airline’s chief exec, Steve Ridgway, spoke at a recent International Aviation Club meeting in Washington, and said: “BA/AA isn’t just another alliance. It is an attempt to stitch up the most important long-haul routes from Europe’s most important airport, London Heathrow.

He added: “BA and AA want to roll back the successes of deregulation and liberalisation in international aviation. In the case of BA, the lack of anti-trust immunity didn’t stop them achieving a 10% operating margin last year. BA and AA want to have their cake and eat it, at consumers’ expense.”

According to the Virgin exec, the BA/AA combination would control 63 per cent of all capacity on the JFK-Heathrow route, 66 per cent on the Chicago-Heathrow route, 79 per cent on the Boston-Heathrow run, 75 per cent between Miami and Heathrow - and all of the capacity on the Dallas/Fort Worth-Heathrow route.

In his comments he also noted that although BA and AA have stated that all US airlines have ‘free’ access to Heathrow Airport, in fact Continental Airlines paid now have “free” access to Heathrow, public financial filings show that Continental $209 million for four pairs of slots at Heathrow, working out to more than $50 million per return flight.

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www.virgin-atlantic.com