Richard Branson gives Virgin Atlantic cash injection as travel outlook darkens

Sir Richard Branson has given Virgin Atlantic a cash injection in a GBP400m funding round to support the airline as the outlook for the travel sector darkens. Branson’s Virgin Group, which owns 51% of the airline, has invested GBP204m, while US carrier Delta has committed GBP196m, maintaining its 49% stake in the British carrier. The new funding agreed on Monday came as the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant and travel restrictions across many parts of the world have begun to hold back the fragile recovery of the travel industry. Bookings for transatlantic flights have been hit by between 30 and 50% following the outbreak of the new variant and travel restrictions, said Shai Weiss, Virgin Atlantic’s CE. “This has had an impact, and I would say it is dampening demand materially,” he said. The disruption has come at a difficult time for Virgin Atlantic, which had hoped the full reopening of transatlantic travel on November 8 would mark the start of a full recovery in passenger numbers. The airline’s long-haul model has left it badly exposed to the crisis, and the company has had to raise cash multiple times over the past two years. But Weiss said he hoped the GBP400m would be a “permanent solution” to its financial problems and that profitability should come by 2023. “I am loathe to predict the future, but this is meant to be setting up the company for long-term success . . . We were doing quite well during the past few months and especially since the opening of the US border,” he said.<br/>