Rival airlines have designs on Virgin

SIR Richard Branson's airline Virgin Atlantic is being circled by a number of rivals as consolidation in the beleaguered sector looks set to continue.

Air France-KLM and America's Delta are understood to be trying to tempt Virgin to join their transatlantic SkyTeam alliance. But the consortium, which is being advised by Goldman Sachs, faces competition from airline Etihad, which is owned by the ruling family of Abu Dhabi.

Branson hired Deutsche Bank in November last year to look at the options for his 51 per cent stake in the airline he founded.