Billionaire Richard Branson asked state support for his airlines

In an open letter to Virgin Group employees, billionaire Richard Branson ($ 4.5 billion by Forbes) asked for financial support from the governments of Great Britain and Australia, as his personal funds were not enough.

To save the airlines Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia, Branson counts on a commercial loan, and not on “free money”.

The billionaire emphasized that his personal capital is not equal to liquid resources. According to him, this amount of funds is “designed at the cost of Virgin Group’s business before the crisis”, and he never deduced significant funds from the company.

In his letter, Branson thanked Virgin Atlantic employees who collectively agreed to cut out wages to save jobs.

• There is no official response of the British authorities to the application of Virgin Atlantic for 500 million pounds, but FT writes that the application was recognized as unsatisfactory. Australia authorities have already denied Branson’s financial assistance for 1.4 billion Australian dollars.
• In March, Virgin Atlantic suffered due to the abolition of flights to Asia and the USA. The pre -order of tickets collapsed by 40% compared to the same period last year, writes BBC. The company sent employees to unpaid vacations, suspended staff set and cut the salary to the management for 4 months.
• Virgin Atlantic has 42 liners, Virgin Australia has 98.

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