Virgin in scramble for emergency funds

VIRGIN Atlantic and Norwegian Air Shuttle are scrambling to shore up their finances as airlines struggle to make it through to the summer.

Majority owned by founder Sir Richard Branson, Virgin is finalising a deal to raise up to £70 million by selling and leasing back t wo Boeing 787 Dreamliners after completing a £1.2 billion rescue plan in September.

It faces a huge blow from the collapse of trans-Atlantic travel, which makes up 70 per cent of its network. Two industry insiders said Virgin will have to raise more money. One well-placed source said it will need a further £1 billion to survive.

Norwegian – which is under bankruptcy protection in Norway, Ireland and Spain – is holding rescue talks this month to raise hundreds of millions of pounds.

Last night, Virgin said: ‘We continue to explore financing opportunities.’

That followed an easyJet announcement late Friday that it had secured a £1.4 billion state-backed loan to help survive the pandemic.