Le Covid-19 has claimed another aviation victim, this time in the skies over Australia. Virgin Australia announced on 21 April The company is in suspension of payments and has placed itself under the supervision of four administrators appointed by Deloitte. While this may not reassure us about the future of the Virgin Australia brand, the Australian carrier's management is nonetheless quite optimistic... In the short term, the company intends to continue to fulfil its mission: " Virgin Australia will continue to operate its scheduled international and domestic flights, which help transport vital workers, maintain important freight corridors and bring Australians home.says Virgin Australia management. What's more, the company is looking to the medium and even the long term. Our decision is about securing the future of the Virgin Australia group and getting our heads above water once the Covid-19″ crisis is over.says Group CEO Paul Scurrah. He believes that " Australia needs a second airline and we're determined to keep flying.even ensuring that " Virgin Australia will play a key role in getting the Australian economy back on its feet after the COVID-19 pandemic by ensuring that the country has access to competitive, high-quality air transport" .
For the time being, it is the airline itself which is hoping that the Australian government will come to its rescue, and the airline's management would like to point out that " the group continued to seek financial support from a number of players, including state and federal governments, to help it through this unprecedented crisis, but has not yet obtained the necessary support" . As for Vaughan Strawbridge, one of the four directors appointed to save the company, he refers to " a process of restructuring and refinancing the company [in order] to take it out of administration as soon as possible".He added that a number of players had already expressed an interest in Virgin Australia's capital.
