Home > Why Virgin Atlantic say no way

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE PROPOSAL

BA and AA are trying for a third time to get anti-trust immunity granted so that the two airlines would be permitted to fix ticket prices and schedules - activity which would normally be illegal.

If the proposals were approved BA/AA would have a monopoly or near monopoly on some of the busiest routes between Europe and the US and they would effectively be able to behave as one airline.

The deal is bad news for passengers, for travel agents, for corporate customers who will end up paying higher fares, and for the aviation industry which will see reduced competition.

The deal is also bad news for the UK economy - with fewer airlines serving Heathrow, its position as Europe's number one hub will be under threat.

The regulators need to show more than ever they are guarding the consumer's interest. We should all be saying "No Way BA/AA"

TOP TEN FACTS AND FIGURES

		200,000 - the number of slots BA holds at Heathrow each year in comparison to Virgin Atlantic's 17,000			100% - the percentage of flights BA/AA will operate on the Heathrow - Dallas Fort Worth route
		64% - BA's share of capacity between Heathrow and New York JFK			62% - the percentage of passengers travelling between Heathrow and the US that travelled on BA and AA in 2007 according to the US Department of Transport
		58% - the percentage BA/AA would have of all Heathrow - US frequencies			57% - the percentage of capacity share BA and AA have on all Heathrow-US routes
		49% - the percentage of peak arrival time slots BA, AA and Iberia hold at Heathrow			46% - the percentage of slots BA, AA and Iberia hold at Heathrow
		37% - the percentage of all EU-US passengers travelling from Heathrow. The next biggest group of routes is Germany to the US which is only 19%.			3 - this is the third time BA and AA have attempted to gain anti-trust immunity