UK billionaire Richard Branson said it's a "possibility" he may buy back a 49-percent stake in carrier Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd from Singapore Airlines Ltd.

"We will be happy to have a look at their stake, should Singapore want to sell," Branson said in an e-mailed response to questions from Bloomberg News on July 10. "It is a possibility that we could buy it back."

Virgin Atlantic, founded by Branson in 1984, flies to 28 destinations and is expanding with new planes and routes. Singapore Airlines, Asia's most profitable carrier, bought the stake for 600.3 million pounds (US$1.2 billion) in 1999, giving the Asian carrier more trans-Atlantic routes and Branson cash to spend on Internet and phone businesses.

Selling the stake is "something that I believe Singapore is looking at," Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive Officer Steve Ridgway said in an interview in Hong Kong on July 10. Singapore Airlines is "a major shareholder, and that may or may not change," he added.

Singapore Airlines may have held talks with investment banks about its stake in the carrier, which could lead to a one-billion-pound sale or an initial public offering, London's Daily Telegraph reported on July 9. Stephen Forshaw, a Singapore Airlines spokesman, declined to comment in an e-mailed response to questions from Bloomberg News. Virgin Atlantic has studied plans for an initial share sale for a long time, Ridgway said. The airline may do it "if the time was right and the market was right," he said.

Chris Tarry, a London-based independent airline analyst, said in an interview on July 10, "The only thing that's clear now is that Singapore is turning its focus elsewhere."

Singapore Airlines and its parent, state investment company Temasek Holdings Pte, are in talks to buy a stake in Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines Corp to tap rising travel demand in the world's second-largest aviation market.

The two Singaporean companies may pay about US$930 million for a stake of about 24 percent in China's third-largest carrier, four people familiar with the talks said on May 28. China Eastern has won preliminary approval for a stake sale.