Virgin Atlantic won’t fly until August under proposed quarantine measures – report
The government’s plans to implement a 14-day quarantine period on incoming travellers to the UK would prevent Virgin Atlantic from resuming passenger flights until August.
A source at the airline told Reuters that if the initiative, which was announced on Sunday, was approved, it would not be able to fill its aircraft.
It said: “If the quarantine is in place, the earliest is August. If there’s no quarantine, you could see, maybe, July”.
On Monday, the government said the plan would be implemented from later this month, although further details have not yet been laid out.
The plan met with dismay from the UK’s airlines and airports, who said the measure risked making an already “critical” situation even worse.
Travellers coming from France and Ireland would be exempt from the measures, the government later said.
Passenger revenues have all but totally dried up for airlines around the world as air travel demand has crashed due to global travel bans and border closures due to the pandemic.
Airlines are now beginning to make plans to restart flying operations, with budget carrier Ryanair saying it will restore 40 per cent of its capacity in July.
However, on Monday Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways owner IAG, said that BA would review its plans to restart flying from July due to the measure.
The decision would be another blow for Virgin Atlantic, which last week announced it would cut a third of its workforce and quit its Gatwick base due to the virus’ impact.
The carrier remains in talks with the UK government over a £500m rescue package it needs in order to continue flying.
It has also been in negotiations with a number of private investors about a deal to secure its future.