By Alistair Smout
LONDON (Reuters) – Virgin Atlantic will not be able to resume passenger flights until August at the earliest if Britain introduces a 14 day quarantine for travellers, according to a source at the airline.
British government ministers have said they plan a quarantine for most international travellers in the coming weeks, though they have provided few details.
Virgin Atlantic has grounded passenger flights as the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted travel restrictions and slashed demand to fly all around the world, and a quarantine would delay the return to flying.
“If the quarantine is in place, the earliest is August. If there’s no quarantine, you could see, maybe, July,” the source told Reuters.
The quarantine policy would leave Virgin Atlantic unable to fill planes, the source said, meaning that a resumption of flights would burn cash at a point when the airline is trying to preserve it.
The airline said last week that it would lay-off almost a third of its workforce as it battles to stay afloat in the coronavirus pandemic which has brought air travel to a near standstill.
It is seeking hundreds of millions of pounds in support from shareholders through working capital facilities and deferments or alleviation of payments that are due. It is also in discussion with creditors and the British government.
Virgin Atlantic is trying for a private-only deal to secure the future of the airline, the source said, with around a dozen private institutions expressing serious interest in a deal.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Kate Holton and Guy Faulconbridge)
