Would you not have expected Virgin to halt the sale as a condition of buying the company ? After all, Virgin will be more interested in feeding customers into a major hub rather than flying oil rig workers between SOU and ABZ. The slots are of more immediate value to them than any other asset. The timing of the announcement just before the market closed is obviously deliberate so you have to ask why ? The market reaction on Monday morning will be very interesting, especially given that Mr Tinkler is stoking the bonfire. I haven't worked that one out just yet but one trader described it to me as "ballsy".