Virgin Atlantic complains to European commission over IAG's purchase of bmi

Competition dispute over monopolies on domestic routes reawakens bitter rivalry with British AirwaysVirgin Atlantic is increasing efforts to block the takeover of bmi by its arch-rival IAG - the parent group of British Airways - by making a formal complaint to the European commission, claiming the merger would create local monopolies and drive up fares.IAG, which owns BA and the Spanish airline Iberia, beat Virgin to the acquisition of bmi from Lufthansa in a £172.5m deal last December that would give it more than half of the takeoff and landing slots at Heathrow.Virgin's new submission to the commission, which has responsibility for competition matters in the EU, says the takeover would leave three key domestic routes as BA monopolies, allowing the airline to increase fares dramatically in the absence of an alternative carrier for passengers.Bmi is the second-largest airline flying out of Heathrow. According to Virgin, since bmi withdrew its flights to Glasgow in 2011, leaving BA as