In a £220m deal, Air France-KLM will acquire a 31 per cent stake in Virgin Atlantic airline, with Richard Branson’s Virgin Group retaining a 20 percent stake (down from 51%).
Chief executive of Air France KLM, Jean-Marc Janaillac, said:
“With our partners Delta and Virgin Atlantic, we are pleased to reinforce our transatlantic partnership, offering our customers even more choice between Europe, UK and the United States via twelve hubs on both sides of the Atlantic.”
With hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Detroit, Los Angeles, London Heathrow, Minneapolis-St Paul, New York-JFK, Paris-CDG, Salt Lake City and Seattle, the new joint venture will operate about 300 transatlantic flights per day.
Virgin Atlantic will retain its independence as a UK airline with a UK operating certificate, and will continue to fly under the Virgin brand.