Richard Branson warns Virgin Atlantic will go bust without £500m bailout – but offers £80m Necker island as collateral

VIRGIN Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson has warned the future of his airline hangs in the balance unless it receives a multi-million pound government bailout.

The Virgin Group chief is thought to be asking for a £500million loan funded by public cash to help keep the airline alive.

In an open letter to staff, posted on Twitter today, Sir Richard said he was prepared to put his private Caribbean island Necker up as collateral to save the business.

The post from Sir Richard, who is estimated to be worth £3.8billion, says Virgin Group "will do everything we can" to keep the airline going.

Sir Richard continues: "But we will need government support to achieve that in the face of the severe uncertainty surrounding travel today and not knowing how long the planes will be grounded for.

"This would be in the form of a commercial loan - it wouldn't be free money and the airline would pay it back (as easyJet will do for the £600 million loan the government recently gave them).

"The reality of this unprecedented crisis is that many airlines around the world need government support and many have already received it."

Sir Richard goes on to claim he'll raise "as much money" as possible against Necker island, the tax-free British Virgin Island he lives on with wife Joan, to save jobs across Virgin Atlantic.

Necker island was purchased in 1980 by Sir Richard when he was 29 years old.

It's now said to be worth around £80million.

He said: "Over time, we built our family home here.

"The rest of the island is run as a business, which employs 175 people."

Sir Richard also confirmed Virgin Atlantic staff had "virtually unanimously" agreed to take a wage cut to save jobs.

The wage reduction is for eight weeks, spread across six and a half months.

Sir Richard previously face criticism in parliament over the pay cuts, with the billionaire being urged to foot any financial hit from coronavirus himself.

Hitting back in his post today, he said: "The cash we have in the Virgin Group and my personal wealth is being invested across many companies around the world to protect as many jobs as possible, with a big part of that going to Virgin Atlantic."