Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) has been given the go-ahead for its plans to acquire the 49% stake of Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi) in Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow) for USD360million. The U.S. Justice Department and the European Commission both officially approved Delta’s plan stating that they “cooperated closely” on their respective investigations and reached the conclusion that the proposed transaction did not raise significant antitrust issues. In its ruling, the EC said both American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) and British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) “are capable of exercising a significant competitive constraint on the combined entity.” However, the US Department of Transportation's judgement on the carriers’ bid for antitrust immunity for their proposed joint venture is still to be approved. As part of that process, the Justice Department said its Antitrust Division “will continue to consult, as appropriate, with the DOT.”