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Virgin Atlantic has once again gone on the attack against British Airways (BA) and American Airlines (AA) with regards to their planned merger.

The airline accused BA and AA of attempting to "stitch up" the transatlantic air corridor between the UK and the United States.

According to Virgin Atlantic's figures, a partnership between these two carriers would enable them to monopolise 79% of capacity between Heathrow and Boston, 75% of flights between Heathrow and Miami and 63% of services between Heathrow and New York JFK.

Steve Ridgway, Virgin Atlantic's chief executive, said: 'BA/AA isn't just another alliance. It is an attempt to stitch up the most important long-haul routes from Europe's most important airport, London Heathrow.

'BA and AA want to roll back the successes of deregulation and liberalisation in international aviation. In the case of BA, the lack of anti-trust immunity didn't stop them achieving a 10% operating margin last year. BA and AA want to have their cake and eat it, at consumers' expense.'

In a recent article for the Telegraph, BA chief executive Willie Walsh argued that a link-up with AA would not kill competition and would enable the carriers to compete with the airlines that belong to the Star Alliance and Skyteam coalitions.

Mr Walsh wrote: 'Our proposed partnership would allow us to create real competition on many routes currently dominated by Star and Skyteam. This is especially important for customers who want to travel beyond main hubs, including people who live in the UK regions.'

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