Virgin Atlantic, the UK-based transatlantic airline, is in talks with Deutsche Bank AG, among others, about raising around 750 million pounds ($916 million) to help tackle the drop in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The German bank is among a group of about a dozen institutions, mostly private equity firms, that Virgin Atlantic is in talks with this week and next, this person said. Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
For the time being, there is no forecast for the company to receive this financial contribution, which can help in its recovery after the pandemic.
Previously Branson previously requested government for Virgin Atlantic to survive the crisis, but it still faces an ime to receive funds from the United Kingdom in the form of a loan, and probably should not be part of the companies that received the aid.
In April, the company determined the immediate retirement of the Boeing 747-400, previously the company expected to receive more Airbus A350-1000 aircraft to replace the jumbo jet. In this way, Virgin Atlantic abandons operations with the aircraft that started its flights.
And to make matters worse, the company will need to cut 3150 employees from its workforce. Due to its size reduction, and in the end to save money.
