LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) – Britain-based airline Virgin Atlantic VA.UL mentioned it wished UK-U.S. journey to reopen on Could 17, after reporting a 659 million pound ($917 million) pretax loss for 2020, highlighting the toll taken by the pandemic.
Virgin mentioned that passenger numbers dropped 80% final 12 months in comparison with 2019 after COVID-19 introduced many planes to a standstill.
Like most airways, it’s eager to return to flying at scale however there are issues about when that may occur. Britain has mentioned that Could 17 is the earliest date journey can restart however it has not but mentioned which international locations folks can go to.
Transatlantic routes previously accounted for some 80% of Virgin’s income, and the airline is eager to see the U.S. open.
“With world main vaccination programmes in each the UK and US, and proof to help secure reopening via testing, there’s a clear alternative to open up journey and no purpose to delay past Could 17,” Virgin’s chief govt Shai Weiss mentioned.
Virgin is 51% owned by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and 49% by the U.S.’s Delta Air Strains Inc DAL.N.
For its final monetary 12 months, it mentioned income got here in at 868 million kilos, down 70% on 2019, with a rise in demand for cargo the one shiny spot in a 12 months of passenger restrictions.
Virgin Atlantic reduce prices final 12 months, shedding 41% of its workforce and retiring some older plane early.
($1 = 0.7185 kilos)
(Reporting by Sarah Younger, Enhancing by Paul Sandle)
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