British Airways and American Airlines have asked Europe's Competition Commission to formalise any objections to their proposed tie-up by the end of July, and remain confident the scheme will go ahead by the end of the year.

Click here to listen to Simon Calder's interview with Richard Branson

Virgin Atlantic took off from Gatwick to Newark, New Jersey, on 22 June 1984. The music mogul Richard Branson leased a second-hand Boeing 747, started selling tickets through Virgin record stores, and began to transform travel as he had music retailing.

Outlook: The message from British Airways to its own staff could not have been much clearer yesterday: the 2,500 job cuts the airline made last year are just the beginning, whatever the consequences for industrial relations turn out to be. Make no mistake, however, there certainly will be consequences.

Terrorist plotters chose seven flights from London to North America as potential targets for a series of bomb attacks, a jury heard today.

Madame Tussauds is to let American tourists in free of charge to mark the inauguration of Barack Obama as US President.

British Airways and Qantas today said they had failed to reach agreement on a potential merger.

British Airways (BA) is in talks with Qantas, the Australian flag-carrier, about a merger that could help create one of the next generation of global super-airlines.

The FTSE 100 was up 67.15 points at 4339.56 and the FTSE 250 climbed to 6623.54, up 102.52 points, at 11.57am today.

Virgin Atlantic – already trading warm words over British Airways' proposed alliance with American Airlines – added fuel to the fire yesterday by ascribing its booming business class sales to the chaotic opening of BA's new Heathrow terminal.

Sir Richard Branson is demanding urgent talks with US and EU regulators to protest against BA's proposed tie-up with American Airlines and Iberia.

British Airways and would-be Spanish partner Iberia today paved the way for a transatlantic joint venture with giant US carrier American Airlines.

Two of the largest airlines in the US lost a combined $2.5bn (£1.25bn) in the second quarter, as rising jet fuel prices and restructuring costs hobbled their operations.

British Airways endured a bumpy ride at its annual general meeting in London yesterday, after shareholders voiced a series of grievances including the airline's ban on the supermodel Naomi Campbell, and called for chief executive Willie Walsh's head over Terminal 5's troubled opening.