Virgin Atlantic announces another financing
Richard Branson´s airline plans to raise up to 160m pounds.

British airline Virgin Atlantic, which has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic like much of the industry, will raise £ 160 million ($ 222.75 million) in new funding, a Richard Branson's airline spokeswoman said in an email Mail sent statement. "We continue to strengthen our balance sheet in anticipation of the lifting of international travel restrictions in the second quarter of 2021," said the spokeswoman. "This latest £ 160 million funding provides further resilience to a slower sales rebound in 2021," she said. The latest financing follows the completion of the sale and lease back of two Boeing (NYSE: BA) 787s in January as part of a plan to strengthen the airline's balance sheet. The deal with Griffin Global Asset Management, which raised just over $ 230 million for the two planes, should enable Virgin Atlantic to repay a loan taken out as part of last year's bailout. In the latest capital increase, Branson's Virgin Group is expected to provide around £ 100 million and the remaining £ 60 million would include deferrals, according to Sky News, which first covered the development. In November, the company said the £ 1.2 billion bailout deal signed two months earlier means the airline can survive even if the travel situation worsens. Virgin cut costs by £ 335 million last year, CEO Shai Weiss said at an airline industry event in November. It also announced 4,650 job cuts, halving the workforce, and downsizing its fleet during the pandemic.





