Delta Air Lines has received United States antitrust approval to buy a 49 per cent stake in Virgin Atlantic from the United States Justice Department.

The European Commission also cleared the proposed transaction on Thursday.

Delta announced the deal in December, saying the purchase would allow it to expand its access to London’s Heathrow Airport.

Delta will replace Singapore Airlines as a 49 per cent minority shareholder in Virgin Atlantic, while Virgin Group will retain its 51 per cent stake.

Furthermore, Delta and Virgin Atlantic will enter into a fully integrated joint venture in order to bring together their passenger air transport operations on routes between the United Kingdom and North America.

Delta and Virgin Atlantic’s non-stop services overlap on the London-New York and London-Boston routes.

In addition, Delta’s one-stop services overlap with Virgin Atlantic’s non-stop services on several routes between the UK and North America.