Delta insists airlines will always opt for Heathrow slots over Gatwick
Sophie Griffiths
Delta has insisted that it will always fight for space at Heathrow rather than Gatwick, even if the south London airport was selected for a new runway to be built.
The US airlines giant also said that it would not be alone in wanting to have slots at the west London airport because business travellers predominantly want to fly from Heathrow.
The carrier, which owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic, said any solution to the UK’s airport capacity crisis would have to involve some expansion at Heathrow, because the business traveller market surrounding it was too valuable to surrender, The Telegraph reported.
More than 200 of Britain’s top 300 companies have their headquarters within a 25-mile radius of Heathrow.
Delta’s executive Perry Cantarutti, who oversees the airline’s joint business with Virgin Atlantic, said his carrier would not shift its services from Heathrow if Gatwick was awarded an extra runway.
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"The solution for London has to involve some capacity at Heathrow. Business travellers opt for Heathrow"
“The solution for London has to involve some capacity at Heathrow,” said Mr Cantarutti. “Business travellers opt for Heathrow.”
Meanwhile, Cantarutti also ended speculation that Delta might scrap the Virgin Atlantic brand, after it paid £223 million last year for 49% of Richard Branson’s airline.
He said Delta was 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”.
Cantarutti added that tickets on routes to the US from Manchester were predominantly sold in the UK.
“There is a tendency for passengers to gravitate towards carriers of their nationality. There should be no question over whether the Virgin brand survives,” he added.
Sophie Griffiths
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