This archive report was first published on 21 April 2020.
On April 21, 2020, Virgin Australia became the largest airline to collapse under the strain of the coronavirus pandemic, which has ravaged the global airline industry.
The airline was already struggling before the onset of the crisis, posting an underlying before-tax loss of Aus$71.2 million in the previous year.
Virgin Australia was more than Aus$5 billion in debt and had appealed for a Aus$1.4 billion loan to stay afloat, but the government refused to bail out the majority foreign-owned company.
Administrator Vaughan Strawbridge, from accounting firm Deloitte, said more than 10 parties had expressed a keen interest in being part of the restructuring plans.
Virgin suspended all international routes and scrapped all but one of its domestic routes after Australia shut its borders to limit the spread of COVID-19 and imposed tough restrictions on movement.
Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of Virgin Group, which owns a 10-percent stake in the airline, tweeted a message in support of the Virgin Australia team.
‘I am so proud of you and everything we have achieved together,’ he said. ‘This is not the end of Virgin Australia, but I believe a new beginning. I promise we will work day and night to turn this into reality.’
