Richard Branson takes advantage of Brexit to float Virgin Atlantic

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Sir Richard has been a staunch opponent of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, saying that Brexit could be more harmful than World War II. Days after the 2016 referendum, he warned that Chinese investors were beginning to withdraw from Britain and that “thousands of jobs would be lost”.

He supported calls for a second referendum with a ‘people’s vote’ in 2019. “The UK government must now put all options on the table, and giving the people the last word should be one of those options,” Sir Richard said.

“If not, there is only one alternative – a clear resolution by Parliament asking the government to repeal Article 50 and start the process again from scratch, armed with facts. There is little time to avert a multigenerational catastrophe.”

The buoyancy will surprise the aviation sector given that Virgin Atlantic has been one of the airlines hardest hit by the pandemic.

Virgin Atlantic was unable to collapse last summer because it was unable to access state assistance from the UK government because it did not meet the necessary standards.

After months of talks, the airline has secured a £200m injection from US hedge fund Davidson Kempner as part of a £1.2bn restructuring.

However, concerns remained about the airline’s long-term future, with experts predicting that demand for transatlantic flights would be among the last to return to pre-Covid levels.

Meanwhile, insiders warned that last September’s restructuring was little more than glue, and bosses would need to raise capital. However, Virgin Atlantic has been shielded from some of the effects of the pandemic by generating record shipping volumes.

Read more: The Rise and Fall of Virgin Atlantic by Richard Branson

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