Delta Air Lines Inc has held recent talks to buy a 49 per cent stake in British carrierVirgin Atlantic that is currently held by Singapore Airlines, two people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

Delta, the second-largest US airline by operating revenue after United Continental Holdings, has been looking to acquire a stake in Virgin Atlantic for more than two years in an effort to expand its access to London's Heathrow airport, the people said.

Previous deal talks broke down over price and other issues, and there is no guarantee that the recent discussions would result in a pact, the people said.

The European Union requires that EU carriers be under European control, meaning Delta would need to involve an EU airline if it sought majority control of Virgin.

Delta has been considering ways to partner with Air France-KLM, which could take an additional stake in Virgin and allow the carriers to acquire majority ownership, one of the people said. Virgin founderRichard Branson owns 51 per cent of the airline.

Delta has made clear that it would like to expand at Heathrow, a lucrative airport for prized corporate passengers where landing slots are generally hard to acquire. Virgin is the second-largest carrier at Heathrow after IAG's British Airways.

Delta's SkyTeam global alliance, which includes Air France and 18 other airlines, trails its oneworld and Star Alliance counterparts in slot access at Heathrow.

Branson, who set up Virgin Atlantic in 1984, has been weighing the airline's future for years and two years ago appointed Deutsche Bank to examine offers as per a Reuters report.

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