Virgin Atlantic ‘weighing up stock market listing’

| August 09, 2021, 05:49

Virgin Atlantic is being tipped to be seeking to raise additional funds following Covid losses by listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Founder Sir Richard Branson would likely lose overall control of the long-haul carrier with a listing, expected to be confirmed in the autumn.

His Virgin Group owns 51% of the airline with US carrier Delta Air Lines having the remainder.

Virgin Atlantic reported a pre-tax loss of almost £660 million for 2020 as the pandemic saw passenger levels plunge by 80%.

Action as been taken to shore up the balance sheet as the airline prepares to resume more services, including a £1.2 billion rescue deal last summer.

More: Virgin Atlantic launches new route to the Bahamas

Virgin Atlantic reopens onboard bars and JFK lounge

Virgin Atlantic and Delta to return to Heathrow T3

The listing, reported by Sky News, comes as key north Atlantic routes to the US remain limited due to an ongoing travel ban imposed by Washington.

However, competition is set to intensify with New York-based low cost carrier JetBlue is to start flying transatlantic routes to London from this week.

Sky reported that Virgin Atlantic’s advisers, including Citi and Barclays, have been approaching major investors about a possible flotation in recent weeks and the finance groups had responded positively to the idea.

The presentation to City investors made in the last few days is said to focus on Virgin Atlantic’s strong positioning to take advantage of pent-up demand for international travel.

Virgin Atlantic is not in urgent need of new funding, with adequate financing in place to see it through the next few months, insiders reportedly said.

Bookings on the key New York-to-London route are said to have surged by 150% this month, although the industry continues to seek further concessions from the Biden administration to open up travel to the US for fully vaccinated passengers.

The airline is stepping up services to the Caribbean this winter with a new route to the Bahamas and more frequencies to Barbados.

Delta is among airlines planning to raise the number of services from the US to Heathrow following the removal of quarantine restrictions on fully vaccinated US travellers from today (Monday).