Virgin Atlantic's chief executive has accused Heathrow of an "anticompetitive" and "mindless" terminal reshuffle that will raise minimum connection times by 50 per cent to 90 minutes and damage the UK economy.

Corneel Koster told an aviation conference that Heathrow Airport Limited's decision to move Delta Air Lines — Virgin's joint-venture partner since 2014 — to a different terminal showed the operator had "no regard for competition and no regard for consumers". Delta also owns a stake in Virgin Atlantic.

What does the terminal split change?

Heathrow Airport Limited announced the plan just weeks ago. It will split Virgin Atlantic and Delta across separate terminals, ending a decade of co-location that underpins their transatlantic joint venture.

For practitioners, the consequence is operational: longer connection times for passengers and harder logistics for both carriers. Koster claimed the change would push connection times up by 50 per cent to a minimum of 90 minutes and add a "lot more stress" for travellers.

"Any hub in the world would keep those airlines together," Koster said. "No hub in the world would ever propose to split a joint venture, certainly not a joint venture with a home airline like ourselves."

How did Koster frame the timing?

The Virgin Atlantic boss accused Heathrow of slipping the announcement out before the Budget to avoid scrutiny.

"They tried to do a trick that the media in the room will recognise – which is slide it out before the Budget, so that no-one would mention, no one would notice it," he said. "Well clearly this move doesn't stand up to public scrutiny, so nice try Heathrow."

"It's completely anticompetitive, it's mindless, it's irrational," he added.

His warning extends beyond passenger inconvenience. Koster argued the reshuffle will hit travellers and the UK economy, framing a terminal allocation dispute as a question of national connectivity.

Will the regulator step in?

The Civil Aviation Authority has left the door open. Rob Bishton, chief executive of the aviation regulator, told the same conference he "would consider" Virgin Atlantic's complaints should the airline escalate them to the watchdog.

"These are serious issues that are being raised," Bishton said. "All I can commit to is saying that we will consider… that which is put in front of us, and we will play our role."

That falls short of an investigation. It signals, though, that the regulator regards the dispute as substantive rather than routine commercial noise — and gives Virgin a formal avenue if private negotiation with Heathrow fails.

What is Heathrow's defence?

Heathrow Airport Limited has previously defended the moves on capacity grounds.

"As demand to travel through Heathrow continues to grow and capacity remains constrained, these [..] moves will unlock more capacity across terminals, reduce congestion, improve the flow of passengers through the airport and help keep passenger costs down," the operator said. "We are committed to working closely with our airline customers as these changes are delivered."

The argument is a trade-off: Heathrow says splitting carriers buys headroom in a constrained airport; Virgin says it breaks the mechanics of a joint venture that depends on tight, same-terminal transfers.

Why the row matters beyond one airline

The dispute tests how Europe's busiest hub balances scarce terminal capacity against airline alliances built on co-location. Virgin and Delta have operated their transatlantic joint venture since 2014, with Delta holding an equity stake in the British carrier — a structure that only works competitively when passengers connect quickly between the two.

Koster's claim of a 90-minute minimum connection sets a measurable benchmark for whatever the regulator, if called upon, decides to examine. For now, the CAA has promised only to look at what is put in front of it.