Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) said Monday that it and Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. have filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation seeking antitrust immunity for their new joint venture on flights between North America and the United Kingdom.
Last year, Delta and Virgin Atlantic announced an agreement under which Delta will acquire a 49% equity stake in Virgin Atlantic's parent company.
In their filing, Delta and Virgin Atlantic noted that nearly 60% of the slots at London Heathrow Airport are controlled by the American Airlines/British Airways joint venture which, as a result, dominates air travel between the U.S. and the U.K., including the New York-London market, which is the most important business market in the world. By combining Virgin's Heathrow slots and U.K. brand strength with Delta's powerful U.S. network, the joint venture will offer significant competition in the market and benefit consumers on both sides of the Atlantic.
In addition, if antitrust immunity is approved, Delta plans to begin new nonstop service between Seattle and London-Heathrow, expanding competition on that important business market.
Delta already operates an industry-leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France KLM and Alitalia. In their filing, the airlines are also seeking antitrust immunity for five-way coordination on U.K. - North America traffic flows among Delta, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, KLM and Alitalia to facilitate the effective operation of the two joint ventures.
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