"Branson plans £1bn refinery to combat cost of jet fuel"
This is the headline on the business section of the UK national The Independent on Sunday 1st August 2005.
It states that Virgin has a team of people assesing how they might cut out the middle men and refine their own fuel, due to rapidly rising costs. this was confirmed by Will Whitehorn, Virgin's Corporate Affairs and brand development director, who is quoted in the article.
"Through our investment in NATS we are getting used to working with other airlines" he said, explaining that they were also considering a multi-lateral approach to the problem.