AN adviser to BMI has said that talks over the airline's future were unlikely to have any effect on jobs in Castle Donington or East Midlands Airport.

His comments came after it emerged yesterday that Virgin Atlantic was holding discussions with Lufthansa "regarding the future" of the airline.

BMI employs between 400 and 500 people in the East Midlands, who work at its headquarters at Donington Hall and at the BMI Baby offices on Pegasus Business Park, near EMA.

Lufthansa says it has an 80% controlling stake in BMI – formerly British Midland Airways – after buying founder Sir Michael Bishop's 50% share in October.

A Virgin spokesman said the discussions "may or may not lead to an agreement" and a further announcement would be made "in due course".

The BMI adviser, who did not want to be named, said: "I doubt whether any conversations between Virgin Atlantic and Lufthansa are likely to have any effect on local jobs.

"As far as I'm aware the discussions are at a very early stage.

"It's far to early to say whether there will be any effect on jobs."

Top aviation consultant John Strickland, of JLS Consulting, formerly employed by British Midland Airways and British Airways, said the talks probably related to Virgin Atlantic's aim of offering more short-haul flights on top of its large number of long-haul options.

He said: "Virgin has long expressed an interest in this expansion to enable it to compete with larger airlines such as British Airways and others.

"Short-haul flights could feed people on to their long-haul flights.

"Lufthansa could chose to sell all or part of its share in BMI or even individual routes.

"BMI and Lufthansa are better placed than most in the current economic climate but it's hard to predict what could happen overall in terms of jobs."

He said Lufthansa had not yet revealed what it wanted to do with its BMI investment.

Lufthansa already held a 30% stake in BMI before adding to its shareholding in last October's £318m deal. The remaining 20% stake in BMI is held by Scandinavian airline SAS.

BMI holds about 12% of the take-off and landing slots at Heathrow airport, where it is the second-largest airline after British Airways.

When the sale of Sir Michael's shares was announced, Virgin expressed interest in a possible link-up with Lufthansa.

Virgin chief executive Steve Ridgway said at the time: "Everyone has speculated that it would make sense for Virgin Atlantic and BMI to combine their long-haul and short-haul networks.

"There is now a major opportunity to do that and create a new and even more effective competitor to BA."

When the Evening Telegraph contacted Lufthansa it said it was accepting media questions only by fax. But no-one responded when we sent questions in this way.