Global airlines will continue to fight for space at Heathrow even if Gatwick is selected for expansion, Delta Air Lines warns.
Perry Cantarutti, the Delta executive who oversees the airline’s joint business with Virgin Atlantic, said the carrier would not shift its services from Heathrow if Gatwick won the fight for expansion.
Any solution to Britain’s looming aviation capacity crunch must involve some expansion at Heathrow because the business travel market surrounding the west London hub is too valuable to surrender.
“The solution for London has to involve some capacity at Heathrow,” he told the Telegraph. “Business travellers opt for Heathrow.”
Cantarutti also ended any speculation that Delta would eventually scrap the Virgin Atlantic brand after last year paying $360 million for 49% of Sir Richard Branson’s airline.
He said Delta is preparing to swap some of its existing routes to the Virgin brand, such as Manchester to Atlanta, because travellers prefer to fly with a native airline. Tickets on routes to the US from Manchester are predominantly sold in the UK.
“There is a tendency for passengers to gravitate towards carriers of their nationality,” he said. “There should be no question over whether the Virgin brand survives.”
The Airports Commission is poised will to publish an appraisal of three possible expansion options – two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick – which will then be put out to public consultation.
Delta’s stake in Virgin is currently under investigation by the European Commission as part of a wider inquiry into whether foreign carriers with minority stakes in European airlines are effectively controlling them in contravention of EU ownership rules.
Cantarutti said Delta provided the EC with information in the summer and that the airline has “no reason to believe” its joint business with Virgin will be found at fault.