This archive report was first published on 22 April 2020.
On March 31, 2020, Virgin Australia, the airline owned by billionaire Richard Branson, entered voluntary administration to address financial difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The airline's board of directors appointed Vaughan Strawbridge, John Greig, Sal Algheri, and Richard Hughes as voluntary administrators to oversee the process.
Despite the administration, Virgin Australia will continue to operate scheduled international and domestic flights for essential services and charter flights for the evacuation of Australian citizens from various countries.
The airline, which employs around 10,000 people directly and another 6,000 through indirect businesses, has assured its employees that there will be no redundancies, and all Virgin employees will keep their jobs as it seeks new buyers and investors.
Meanwhile, Sir Richard Branson has offered his Necker island in the Caribbean as collateral to help secure a UK government bailout of Virgin Atlantic, which he also owns. He had already invested $250 million in Virgin Group companies in response to the pandemic.
Virgin Australia is one of the largest airlines operating in Australia and serves 42 cities from hubs in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.
The airline has significant stakes from Etihad Airways (21%), Singapore Airlines (20%), and HNA Group (20%).
