Speaking on the UK’s Sky News, Ryanair boss, Michael O’Leary said that Richard Branson “can bail himself out” and said Virgin Atlantic should not receive Government assistance.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has told Sky his billionaire rival Sir Richard Branson should not be given a government bailout to save Virgin Atlantic.
Mr O’Leary also said the airline industry could be up and flying by June or July, but he rubbished social distancing proposals for planes.
Sky News YouTube Channel
O’Leary described Lufthansa, the German airline, as “like a crack cocaine addict” for asking for additional money alongside payroll support.
He added “Virgin Atlantic is ridiculous.” Before adding “this is Branson’s second go at trying to fleece the British taxpayer with state aid, you know, he tried it with FlyBe, which was owned by Delta, himself and a New York VC company. Now you have Virgin Atlantic, owned by Delta and a Carribbean Island based non-resident billionaire. Frankly, if he’s worried about Virgin, he should write the cheque himself!”
“It’s not like he is short of money, his Virgin Galactic investment is worth about 1.3 billion today. So sitting in the Virgin Islands as a tax exile, and asking the British Government to bail you out, when you have more than sufficient resources to bail out Virgin Atlantic yourself, is not something, I believe, that should be considered.”
When will we be back flying?
“Late June, early July is a reasonable date at the moment.”
“I think both our passengers and our staff will be wearing face coverings.” He also suggested that there would be temperature checks at airports.
Certainly, in Europe, as shown in this animation, the flight numbers have been significantly reduced since lockdowns began.
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