Virgin Atlantic says it can survive worsening travel outlook.

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5 years ago

Virgin Atlantic’s 1.2 billion pound ($1.6 billion) rescue deal two months ago means the airline can survive even if the travel situation worsens, its chief executive told an airline industry event on Wednesday.

International travel remains at very low levels and a surge of coronavirus cases in the last two months has prompted further restrictions, dealing Virgin a new blow just after it stabilised its financial position in September, Reuters reported.

CEO Shai Weiss said Virgin would survive and that its downside case was for normalised UK to U.S. travel to resume next spring.

“The recapitalisation, with the support of our shareholders and new investors and everything that I’ve mentioned, should see us through, even under more strenuous positions,” he told an online conference.

Virgin has cut costs by 335 million pounds this year, Weiss said. It has announced 4,650 job losses during the pandemic, halving its workforce, and shrunk its fleet.

Weiss called on the UK government to change its rules quickly so that passenger testing shortens a 14-day quarantine required for arrivals from most countries. The government has said it is making progress with the plan.