Virgin resumes long-haul flights – but only for ‘essential travel’

VIRGIN Atlantic will resume passenger flights to several destinations next week but warned it anticipated a sluggish recovery in demand for air travel.

The carrier said its planes will return to the skies with flights from Heathrow to Hong Kong, New York and Los Angeles. However, Corneel Koster, the company’s operating chief, said with widespread border restrictions and the UK’S quarantine requirements for arrivals from most long-haul destinations, “it’s basically essential travel only”.

Entry to the US is still restricted to US citizens and permanent residents, while there are some exemptions for certain close family members and diplomats.

Mr Koster told Bloomberg TV: “Bookings initially are looking limited and load factors will be relatively low. We do believe there is pent-up demand out there, but we don’t know when our major market to and from the US will open. And corporate demand will take time to recover.”

It comes after Sir Richard Branson’s airline secured a £1bn rescue package on Tuesday, ending months of uncertainty over the future of the carrier.

After being refused a state bail-out by Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, the deal includes a £200m injection from Sir Richard, while Wall Street hedge fund Davidson Kempner will provide loans of about £170m. A further £400m will come from the deferral of fees owed to the Virgin Group and the airline’s minority shareholder Delta over the next three to five years. Some 3,150 Virgin Atlantic jobs will still need to be cut under the plan.

Mr Koster also warned that the carrier did not expect demand returning to 2019 levels for some time. He said: “We are going to take it one step at a time. We think it will take at least three years to get back to 2019 levels.”

Separately, Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways said it would post a firsthalf loss of about $1.3bn (£1bn), warning international aviation remains “incredibly uncertain”. In a grim sign for the beleaguered industry, Cathay flew less than 1pc of its usual passenger numbers in June, despite the virus being largely under control in many Asian countries.

On Monday, shareholders agreed a $5bn state-backed rescue plan that will give the Hong Kong government a 6pc stake in the airline.