There's a war brewing between Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. They've never been the best of buds, in fact BA has continually tried to put Virgin Atlantic out of business.

Well, Virgin Atlantic is not going anywhere, but they take issue with BA's latest plans to merge with Iberia and have an increased partnership with American Airlines.

Richard Branson has gone so far as to put "No BA/AA Alliance" on the side of its airplanes. Branson believes that the alliance will give British Airways unfair monopolistic control of transatlantic air travel.

Virgin Atlantic is lodging an official protest with the Civil Aviation authorities in Europe and America.

I'm a BA apologist... I always fly British Airways because their prices are usually the lowest. It's be nice if this war between VA and BA meant lower prices for consumers. But, sadly, transatlantic travel seems to be only getting more expensive; especially as fuel costs rise along with the tumbling economies of the world.