MURDO MORRISON / LONDON
Branson says group will take minority stake in operation for start-up "within six months"
Virgin is in talks to raise funds to launch a low-cost US airline operation later this year.
Sir Richard Branson, chairman of the UK conglomerate, which majority-owns international airline Virgin Atlantic, says he aims to have the airline "up and running within six months" and is talking to US venture capital providers about raising $150 million to fund the launch.
Speaking at the UK Aviation Club last week, Branson said the airline had been trying "for 15 or 16 years to get permission from the US authorities to set up in America - we are not going to wait any longer". He said his group would be the "minority owner in a company that carries the Virgin brand".
The airline would be "started from scratch" and would serve cities across the USA. Branson would not say whether the venture would be East or West Coast-based.
In the past, Virgin has said its ambition was to launch a US low-cost airline modelled on its Australian carrier Virgin Blue and perhaps named Virgin America.
Foreign ownership of US companies is currently restricted to below 50% of stock and only 25% of voting rights. Branson has previously insisted he would need to be a majority owner and controller of a US airline and campaigned for US ownership rules to be changed.
Source: Flight International
