Singapore Airlines in talks to sell stake in Virgin Atlantic

Singapore Airlines has said that it is in talks to sell its 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic.

According to some international news agencies, Delta Air Lines was interested in buying the stakes.

Billionaire Richard Branson holds a controlling 51% of Virgin Atlantic, the BBC reports.

A partnership with Virgin would allow US-based Delta to access the lucrative transatlantic business travellers market between the US and London, the report said.

Singapore Air bought its 49% stake in Virgin in 2000 for about 551 million pounds.

Since then, Singapore Air has invested further capital into Virgin and now values its total investment at 600.25 million pounds, the report added.

The airline said in a brief statement that it ‘is in discussions with interested parties’ to possibly divest its shareholding, but did not name the potential buyers.

According to the report, it added that the talks may or may not lead to a transaction.

Delta, the second-biggest US airline, has been looking to buy into Virgin for more than two years, as it looks to increase its access to London’s Heathrow airport, the report said.

Virgin is the second-biggest airline at Heathrow airport, where landing slots are hard to acquire, the report added.