Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

COVID-19: Virgin Atlantic boss says 'no reason to delay' return of UK-US travel as it posts £858m loss

COVID-19: Virgin Atlantic boss says 'no reason to delay' return of UK-US travel as it posts £858m loss

Virgin wants the US to be on the UK's green list when non-essential travel reopens under a "traffic light" system next month.

The boss of Virgin Atlantic says there is "no reason to delay" the return of US-UK travel next month - as the carrier reported an £858m annual loss.

Virgin, which has cut thousands of jobs with flights grounded during the pandemic - and last autumn completed a rescue deal with investors - said passenger numbers last year fell by more than 80% to 1.1 million.

Under the government's roadmap for reopening, non-essential travel is set to resume on 17 May under a "traffic light" system but it has yet to announce which countries will be on the "green list" subject to fewest restrictions.

The carrier is 51% owned by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group


Virgin's boss Shai Weiss has argued that the US should be on the list - which will allow passengers to return from the selected countries without having to isolate, though they will have to pay for COVID tests.

Mr Weiss said: "With world leading vaccination programmes in both the UK and US, and evidence to support safe reopening through testing, there is a clear opportunity to open up travel and no reason to delay beyond 17 May."

The comments, reiterating a stance previously outlined by Mr Weiss, come after easyJet boss Johan Lundgren said earlier this month that European holiday destinations such as Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal should be on the list too.

Travel sector operators have also been asking to be told about the list as soon as possible as the reopening date nears.

This week, Jet2 said the uncertainty was resulting in travellers leaving bookings until the last minute.

Transatlantic routes typically account for about four-fifths of revenues for Virgin Atlantic - which is 51% owned by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin group and 49% by America's Delta airlines.

Mr Weiss said Virgin welcomed the government's framework for reopening travel but that it did not go far enough, with hundreds of thousands of jobs in the industry at stake.

"Now we need certainty that the framework will allow for a phased removal of testing and quarantine," he said.

Virgin said revenues fell by 70% to £868m last year with an upturn in cargo volumes the only financial boost.

It also said it "made a significant contribution towards the national effort to protect lives, from transporting vital PPE and medical supplies, to volunteering to support NHS frontline services".

The carrier said it had processed more than £600m of customer refunds during the year as a result of the disruption.

Virgin's loss for the year of £858m compares to a loss of £63.7m in 2019.

The annual report showed that the company's number of employees fell from 10,016 to 5,907 over the year while the company received £70m from the government's furlough scheme subsidising the wages of workers temporarily laid off due to the pandemic.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×