Virgin Atlantic writes to US president over merger row

Virgin Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson has sent a letter to Barack Obama, the president of the United States, calling for his government to reject the proposed tie-up between British Airways and American Airlines.

To mark the first anniversary of the airlines' initial application to regulators today (August 14th), Sir Richard contacted the president to inform him of the dominant position that they would occupy on key routes to the US from Heathrow Airport if they are allowed to effectively merge.

In his letter, the Virgin president said that a victory for British Airways and American Airlines would be "an unprecedented loss for consumers" as prices will increase and service will deteriorate.

"Mr President, I am optimistic that your administration will stand on principle, rigorously subject BA/AA to exacting competition analysis and ultimately choose to stand on the side of consumers and competition by rejecting BA/AA's anti-trust application," he added.

"Now, more than ever, consumers are counting on you to put their interests first."

Virgin Atlantic has also been campaigning on the issue of air passenger duty recently, calling for the British government to abandon its plans to raise the tax on flights.

Posted by Teddie, 14 August 2009 12:37

News tags

• American Airlines
• Virgin
• British Airways