British Airways suffered another blow this week after Prime Minister Gordon Brown chose to fly Virgin Atlantic, not national carrier British Airways to the US next month.

The contract will see Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic ferry the Prime Minister and his team to the G20 summit next month hosted by US President Obama, which will attract immense attention from the media.

Virgin cut BA’s price by about 30 percent, and also stripping the airline of it’s prestige of carrying Prime Ministers since it was privatized by Margarat Thatcher in the 1980s.   This is the first time that Mr Brown will have flown Virgin since becoming the British PM.

A Prime Ministerial spokesman said: “Decisions relating to the Prime Minister’s travel, including the choice of aeroplane for international visits, are taken to deliver maximum value for money for the taxpayer as well as ensuring the most efficient and effective use of the Prime Minister’s time.”

Virgin Atlantic said: “We are clearly delighted that the Prime Minister has chosen to fly with us. We hope it will be the first of many similar trips.

The move comes at a bad time for BA, struggling due to the recession, which only weeks ago asked 40,000 staff to work without pay to make up for losses.  Chief executive Willie Walsh did not collect his salary for the month of July.

The privatization of the airline in the 1980s under the Thatcher government saw British Airways become one of the world’s most profitable carriers, and claimed to be ‘The World’s Favourite Airline’ at a time when many others struggled.

The airline has been hit hard by the recession and downturn in the travel industry, planning to cut about 3,700 of the airlines 40,000 jobs as passenger numbers and profits fall to record lows.

Thanks to the Telegraph.  For more information visit their website.