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Virgin Atlantic in talks with easyJet to buy Gatwick airport
Posted by:Mark 54 days ago • Discuss
LONDON – Virgin Atlantic, the British airline owned by tycoon Richard Branson, said on Friday that it was in talks about forming a consortium that would bid for London's second biggest airport, Gatwick. "We confirm that we are in talks with British low-cost airline easyJet who are potentially interested in joining the consortium," Virgin spokesman Paul Charles told AFP. The Times newspaper had reported on Friday that the pair were in talks with financial backers about forming a bidding team. Analysts have estimated that the sale of Gatwick could fetch up to three billion pounds 3.48 billion euros, 4.42 billion dollars. Britain's Spanish-owned airport operator BAA announced in September plans to sell London's Gatwick hub after regulators called for the offloading of two of its airports on competition grounds. BAA is owned by Spanish giant Ferrovial, which bought the firm in 2006. Gatwick, the second largest airport in Britain behind London's Heathrow, was used by 35 million passengers last year.
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