I couldn't find an appropriate recent-ish thread to post this in, so thought I'd start a new one. Some interesting news regarding VA partners that could potentially influence future moves from VA..:
VS in sale talks with DL/AF/KL - announcement expected soon
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/busi...-1226533199228
EI announced as operator for VS short haul flights
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-1...e-partner.html
So, a fun little bit of conjecture on my behalf - if DL is successful at acquiring SQs stake in VS this time around - AND if AF/KL are also involved - I think that it's reasonable to assume that VS would look at joining SkyTeam.
Pushing that conjecture about as far as it can go - could that lead to VA working with more SkyTeam carriers (or even potentially joining SkyTeam themselves)? Ignoring the 30-ish% of VA that is owned by *A carriers for a moment .. watching what EY is up to in Europe could be quite instructive, seeing that most of VAs codeshares in to Europe are on EY metal. As a summary, EY own a large-ish chunk of AB, a small-ish chunk of EI, have signed a reasonably substantial codeshare deal with AF/KL and may well be
doing the same with AZ.
I'm getting in to fantasy land here, but it's definitely within the realms of possibility - John Borghetti has previously mentioned that he sees SkyTeam as a
formidable choice and it would give VA the intra-Europe network that they don't have right now.
Also, if EI are cozying up to VS (which I'm a little surprised at, given their long term partnership with BA) - maybe EI might also partner with the other Virgin airlines?