Virgin Australia, which is billions of Australian dollars in debt, is now on the verge of filing for bankruptcy, according to sources at the Sydney Morning Herald. The pandemic crisis has thus been the death knell for billionaire Richard Branson's Australian airline arm, according to the newspaper.

A liquidity crisis resulting from the halt in global travel has meant that Virgin Australia can no longer meet its financial obligations and therefore the country's second largest airline will file for bankruptcy on Monday, according to newspaper sources.

There is still hope that a new owner will step in and save the company during bankruptcy negotiations. Virgin Australia employs around 16,000 people.

Virgin Australia, a sister company of Virgin Atlantic, recently applied to the country's government for immediate support of 1.4 billion. The request was rejected. 

In both Europe and North America, airlines have been granted support packages, including in Scandinavia regarding SAS and Norwegian Air.

Source: Nyhetsbyrån Direkt