Delta Air Lines sharply criticized Heathrow Airport Ltd.'s recent decision to relocate the carrier's operations to Terminal 4 from Terminal 3, away from joint-venture partner Virgin Atlantic.
The decision, which followed the airport operator's once-a-decade review of Heathrow operations, "is short-sighted, deeply disappointing and bad for airline consumers," Delta CEO Ed Bastian wrote Monday in a statement. "For more than a decade, our airlines have served millions of customers through our co-located operation in Terminal 3, offering travelers convenient connections, premium amenities and access to an expanded global network."
The move, if implemented, would occur in 2028.
Delta and Virgin Atlantic received approval for their antitrust-immune joint venture in September 2013. Delta owns a 49 percent stake in the U.K.-based carrier. The carriers added Air France-KLM to the partnership in February 2020. Air France and KLM operate from Terminal 4 at Heathrow.
In BTN's 2025 Airline Survey findings, the Delta/Virgin/Air France-KLM alliance was rated the highest among 10 airline partnerships—4.38 on an ascending scale of one to five, with 86 percent of travel buyer respondents reporting usage.
"Separating our operation undermines years of investment and disregards the tightly integrated customer benefits that we offer in our co-located terminal," Bastian added. "We are committed to preserving the seamless travel experience for which Delta and Virgin Atlantic are known and will pursue all available remedies to correct this decision. We urge Heathrow Airport Limited to reconsider their decision in favor of a more prudent and thoughtful outcome that puts travelers first and allows competition to flourish at Heathrow."
"If implemented in 2028, Heathrow's decision … would create friction for customers, weaken competition and reduce choice," Virgin Atlantic CEO Corneel Koster said in a statement. "As all other airports seek to co-locate joint venture partners, Heathrow has chosen to split ours after more than a decade together. If this goes ahead, consumers will pay the price."
Koster also noted that "given Heathrow's significant market power and the expected impact on U.K. long-haul competition, we will now consider all available options to challenge this outcome."
In addition, Virgin Atlantic noted that Terminal 3 is the oldest of Heathrow's terminals, opening in 1961, and that Terminal 2, the newest, opened in 2014, or a modernized Terminal 3 "are the only suitable terminal locations for Virgin Atlantic and Delta to deliver a modern, world-class premium experience our customers deserve." The carrier added that "despite bespoke facilities for connecting passengers [in T2], these are currently unused due to the low volume of connecting passengers between the current airline users of the terminal."
Further, Heathrow "should progress on SkyTeam terminal co-location," according to the carrier. "Only centrally located, modern facilities will enable equivalence for a home-based hub competitor to [British Airways]."
Virgin Atlantic in March 2023 joined the airline alliance SkyTeam, of which Delta, Air France and KLM are members.
Four additional airlines are part of Heathrow's reshuffling plan: Finnair, Japan Airlines, Latam and China Southern Airlines, the airport confirmed.
A Heathrow spokesperson in a statement said the terminal moves would "unlock more capacity across terminals, reduce congestion, improve the flow of passengers through the airport and help keep passenger costs down."
The airport also noted that airlines representing 81 percent of Heathrow's passengers support the final decision, "which involves the fewest airline moves, the least capital expenditure and can be delivered the fastest, providing the best alignment with airlines' growth plans."