Alliance or rumour mill?

After I glimpsed a story about an alliance between Virgin and other airlines on one of the news channels last night I thought I'd try to get some more information about it. At first details were thin on the ground but as of this morning the story seems to be making many of the nationals and regional papers.

Details are unconfirmed to say the least. The initial story wrote of an alliance between Virgin Atlantic, Malaysia based AirAsia and EasyJet with the prospect of flights from Manchester and possibly Luton to Asia from £43. However later reports reveal that EasyJet are denying any negotiations with Virgin.

This morning, while more local papers continue to report the 3-party alliance and potentially rock bottom fares to Asia, the Times has taken a entirely different tack, indicating the Virgin may be looking to buy a stake in AirAsia with an eye to opening up routes within Asia.