EU approves Virgin Atlantic’s acquisition of Flybe following slot commitments
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The European Commission has finally approved the acquisition of Flybe by the Virgin Atlantic-led Connect Airways consortium.
It was not entirely pain free, with the airline required to surrender five daily slot pairs at Amsterdam Schiphol and three daily slot pairs at Paris Charles de Gaulle.
These must be made available to any airline which wants to fly to Birmingham. The European Commission decided that Air France KLM’s 31% shareholding in Virgin Atlantic meant that there would otherwise be no substantial competition on these routes.
To date, staff at Flybe have not even been allowed to meet their counterparts at Virgin Atlantic, yet alone start jointly working up a new strategy. A rebranding is certain, as is the integration of Flybe into Virgin Flying Club.
There is a lot of work to do, however. This article, entitled ‘Toxic Flybe Brand Needs To Be Addressed’, gives you an idea of the challenge ahead.
How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2024)
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.
You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 15,000 Virgin Points):
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review
Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard
A generous earning rate for a free card at 0.75 points per £1 Read our full review
You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 40,000 Virgin Points.
The Platinum Card from American Express
40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review
Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.
American Express Business Platinum
40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points.
(Want to earn more Virgin Points? Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)
