sells | Common News Update

Sir Richard Branson has given up his majority holding in Virgin Atlantic in a £220m deal with rival Air France-KLM amid Brexit woes for the carrier.Under the agreement, which is subject to regulatory approval, the billionaire tycoon's Virgin Group will give up 31% of its 51% stake in the airline he founded - leaving it with 20%.US carrier Delta Airlines continues to hold the other 49%.The three airline groups said the deal would allow them to create "the most comprehensive transatlantic route network" by enabling tailored flight schedules between them.Passengers using the carriers, they said, would earn flyers' benefits across the network with Virgin, which has 53 aircraft in its fleet, retaining its brand and remaining a "UK airline with a UK operating certificate".The announcement will b...

STONECUTTERS ISLAND in Hong Kong used to be a favoured habitat for poisonous snakes and eye-catching birds such as the white-bellied sea eagle. Thanks to Hong Kong’s rapid development, it is no longer so hospitable. Its sky is full of gantry cranes, stacking 20-foot-long shipping containers in multicoloured tessellations, like giant Lego bricks. A cluster of decorative containers, daubed in graffiti, line the perimeter of container terminal eight, which is partly operated by COSCO, a state-owned Chinese shipping giant. In bright yellow lettering, one slogan instructs passers-by to “Respect Past, Embrace Future”.Few Hong Kong companies have as much to tell about the past as Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), the world’s seventh-biggest container shipping line. Its founder, Tung Chao-yun...

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Branson sells majority stake in Virgin Atlantic

An illustrious Hong Kong container firm sells to China