Its BA and Virgin that ought to merge surely? Get your heads around that one...
Watch LH cry "Foul" if thats the case whereupon the new BA+VS entity will tell the EU Commission to look at Frankfurt before they make a decision on relinquishing slots.
BA+VS will win that one.
None of the cash LH spent on bmi was unforeseen...the deal was sitting there on the cards for 10 years with a pre-negotiated price tag.
They'll sort out the bmi business - of that £100 million loss they clawed back £75 million on closing out the deal; so they're now only £25 million down for the year assuming thats what they'll lose this year - but who in their right mind would sell rights to operate into LHR at this point in time when the price will be depressed and their future revenue potential is infinite?
I reckon it'll be "no change" for the foreseeable future but LH could really hold BA to ransom for the slots bearing in mind the constraints on expansion at LHR...
All pure speculation of course...
