Singapore Airlines not ruling out selling Virgin Atlantic stake

Singapore Airlines is disappointed with the returns on its investment in Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Airways and is now exploring options that include selling its 49% stake.

“Nothing is ruled out and nothing is ruled in,” Singapore Airlines Chief Executive Chew Choon Seng said in comments reported by The Straits Times newspaper that the airline’s public affairs department confirmed were accurate.

“It (Virgin Atlantic) has not produced the sort of returns we had anticipated when going in,” Chew said.

“Unfortunately, the timing was such that soon after our investment, 9/11 happened and that severely impacted business across the Atlantic,” Chew said, referring to the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States that caused a lull in travel.

The Singapore carrier acquired the stake in Virgin Atlantic in late 1999 for about £600m (€890).