Rolls-Royce and Airbus support £500m Virgin Atlantic coronavirus bail-out (FT)
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
Rolls-Royce and Airbus are pressuring the UK Government to back a bailout of Virgin Atlantic, according to a report in the Financial Times this afternoon.
The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has been told by both companies that Virgin Atlantic plays a key role both in their operations and in supporting their supply chain throughout the UK.
Virgin Atlantic recently ordered 14 A330-900neo aircraft, pictured below, with a list price of $4.1 billion.
The wings for these aircraft are designed and manufactured by Airbus in the UK. Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines will power the planes, and the value of the engines is likely to be around 1/3rd of the total order cost.
Heathrow Airport is also reported to have submitted a letter supporting the arline.
The newspaper reports that the airline has now officially requested a package of commercial loans and guarantees worth £500 million. The loans are to support day-to-day costs whilst the airline remains grounded. The guarantees are required to persuade Visa, Mastercard and American Express to release the money they are retaining to cover potential Section 75 claims if the airline folds.
Talks between the airline and the Government will start this week. The FT quotes a Government source as saying that both Virgin Atlantic and easyJet may be refused support, due to Sir Richard Branson’s historic sheltering of Virgin Group profits from UK tax due to his Necker Island domicile and easyJet’s recent payment of a £170m dividend. Loganair and Eastern are expected to receive Government funding unchallenged.
Whilst not highlighted by the FT, I should add that there are also questions being asked over the appointment of advisory firm EY who will effectively tell the Government what they should do. EY has audited British Airways and latterly IAG for over 30 years.
The FT article is behind a paywall but you can read it by clicking through to Google here and selecting the top result.
How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (March 2024)
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.
You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 15,000 Virgin Points):
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review
Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard
A generous earning rate for a free card at 0.75 points per £1 Read our full review
You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 40,000 Virgin Points.
The Platinum Card from American Express
40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review
Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive a huge 120,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Platinum by 9th April 2024. You receive 80,000 points for spending £12,000 within 90 days and a further 40,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive 60,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Gold by 9th April 2024. Remember that the card is FREE for the first year. You receive 40,000 points for spending £6,000 within 90 days and a further 20,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
American Express Business Platinum
Crazy 120,000 points bonus (to 9th April) and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
Huge 60,000 points sign-up bonus (until 9th April) and free for a year Read our full review
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points.
(Want to earn more Virgin Points? Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)
Comments (117)