Update to clarify how resurrected Virgin will fly
VIRGIN Australia will divulge more details of how the airline will look post-administration on Wednesday.
Management is expected to confirm the airline will keep business lounges, axe the Tigerair brand and eventually resume international routes.
Chief executive Paul Scurrah will deliver the update after weeks of speculation about the airline’s future following its sale to Bain Capital.
Virgin was put in administration on April 21 with debts of $6.8bn, triggering a race to find a buyer. After an accelerated process, administrators from Deloitte named Bain as successful bidder on June 26.
Details of the sale were subject to a court-approved confidentiality clause and will be released only to creditors later this month.
Although the chief executive of Bain’s Australian operations, Michael Murphy, provided some insight on how Virgin would operate after administration, questions remained over the size of the carrier and its position in the Australian market.
Like most other airlines rocked by the coronavirus pandemic, Virgin was expected to be a much leaner operation in the years ahead with about 50 fewer aircraft and between 5000 and 6000 employees, down from more than 9000.
Despite Bain’s insistence it would not compete directly with Qantas, the airline is still likely to be closer to a fullservice carrier than a Jetstar.
That could disappoint Qantas chief Alan Joyce, who said on the Gold Coast last week he expected Virgin Australia “to move back down-market to where Virgin Blue was”.
The airline expects to be operating seven intra-Queensland routes by mid-September.