VIRGIN Atlantic's announce-ment in September that it planned to operate up to 84 new routes from London Heathrow, assuming the third runway is even-tually built, certainly caught the headlines. The plan, according to Virgin, is to challenge British Airways' dominance at the airport by oper-ating 37 new European routes, 12 new UK routes and 35 new long-haul routes. At present Virgin Atlantic serves just 19 intercontinental destinations. It is proposing that it should be awarded, presumably at no cost, over 40% of the new slots which will become available with the construction of a new runway. This isn't the first time that Virgin Atlantic has threatened to challenge BA's dominant position in UK avi-ation in general, and at Heathrow in particular. Indeed, throughout its existence, since 1984, Virgin has been engaged in a running battle with its larger competitor, although the confrontation's intensity (and headline grabbing) has declined in recent years, coinciding with Delta's purchase of a 49% stake in the UK carrier. Unlike other would-be chal-lengers to BA, Virgin Atlantic has at least survived, but it never really made the break-through it sought to establish itself as a major threat to the larger carrier.
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