Delta Air Lines said to be near buying stake in Virgin Atlantic

Delta Air Lines Inc. is close to buying a stake in Virgin Atlantic Airways for $300 million to $500 million, a person familiar with the negotiations said Monday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because a deal has not been announced.

“All we can say right now is that we can’t comment on industry rumor and speculation,” Delta spokesman Trebor Banstetter said.

Singapore Airlines owns a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic. Last week it said it was in talks with a possible buyer for that stake. Delta has been widely reported to be on the other side of those talks.

It’s not yet clear exactly what Delta would do with its stake, but Virgin Atlantic is the second-biggest airline at London’s Heathrow Airport, behind British Airways.

A partnership with Virgin Atlantic could give Delta access to some of its landing rights, or at least to some of the financial benefits of flying people to London, whether they’re on a plane flown by Delta or Virgin Atlantic.