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Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., the Richard Branson-controlled carrier that signaled interest in a merger six months ago, said it has received “a number of lines of enquiry” after hiring Deutsche Bank AG as an adviser.

“It is far too early to comment on individual details,” a Virgin spokesman, Greg Dawson, said late yesterday in an e- mailed statement. The London-based airline has “nothing further to add,” he said.

Virgin brought in Deutsche Bank as mergers helped competitors bulk up and two of the airline’s trans-Atlantic rivals, British Airways Plc and AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, won regulatory approval to deepen their ties. Deutsche Bank will be at work for a “number of months,” Virgin said.

The airline confirmed contacts after Sky News reported the talks, without saying where it got the information. Delta Air Lines Inc. is among the competitors studying a Virgin tie-up, Sky reported.

“As a matter of policy, we don’t comment on industry rumor or speculation about potential partnerships,” said Betsy Talton, a spokeswoman for Atlanta-based Delta.

Virgin is 51 percent owned by Branson, the British billionaire who founded Virgin Group Ltd., with the rest held by Singapore Airlines Ltd. Nicholas Ionides, a Singapore Air spokesman, declined to comment.

Virgin Chief Executive Officer Steve Ridgway broached the idea of a merger in a June interview with Bloomberg Television. The airline might be open to consolidation, he said, and there was potential for Virgin to “grow to become part of a bigger group.”

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