Virgin Atlantic provided BAA, which ran both Heathrow and Gatwick on behalf of the UK government, and the Secretary of State for Transport granted permission. The Civil Aviation Authority also transferred two pairs of unused landing slots that British Airways held at Tokyo's Narita Airport to Virgin to let it increase its frequency between Heathrow and Tokyo from four to six weekly round trips, making it easier for Virgin to compete against British Airways. The then-chairman of BA Lord King called the CAA's decision, which the government had endorsed, "a confiscation of his company's property". In the year to October 1993, Virgin
Virgin Atlantic Little Red Virgin Atlantic Little Red Virgin Atlantic Little Red (also referred to as Virgin Little Red and Little Red) was a British airline subsidiary owned by Virgin Atlantic. It was created in 2012 as a way to provide competition for aviation giant British Airways (BA) on UK domestic mainland flights to Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Manchester from London Heathrow Airport. During its operation, the airline operated four Airbus A320s wet leased from Irish airline Aer Lingus and served a network of four domestic destinations. The airline ceased operations in 2015 following low passenger numbers. In 2012, British Airways took over British Midland