You and I have conversed as this whole process has unfolded it's been really difficult to keep the airline on track. Just talk me
through how important today is. Well you know it wouldn't be Virgin without the Atlantic. So we'll start there. And you know
the US UK corridor has been closed for U.K. nationals for six hundred and two days 60 percent of our capacity goes to the
United States. We have a very thriving joint venture with death and Air France KLM. And our story during the pandemic has been
well-documented. But to arrive here today is really a day of celebration. More importantly for our passengers who were
reuniting loved ones we hear of stories you know grandchildren that have not seen their grandparents families reunite again
businesses converging. So for us a really big day a tipping point from survival onto the next 37 years. We're going to see a
joint takeoff I understand today. Yeah well runway what. Runway 1 B.A. on runway 2. Yeah. Both flying a 50s. That's one
thousands. The most efficient planes out there that would reduce CO2 emissions by 30 to 40 percent compared to a 747 850 takeoff
from London Heathrow to New York. And I bet that we will not be competing. And who's going to arrive first. We'll be competing
on who is the most efficient in terms of reducing fuel consumption and arriving on Time Vale. As you say really fuel
efficient aircraft the most fuel efficient that you can probably get hold of. Right now you've retired as this process unfolded.
747 is big four engines inefficient aircraft coming out of the coming out of the market. What difference is that going to make
in terms of economics. As we see capacity coming back in we're flying smaller more efficient aircraft. Well I started actually
with sustainability. You know this is COP 26. And to have the youngest fleet in the skies we do is really an important element
that we've invested billions of pounds to ensure we have a fleet of reducing CO2. We've already reduced our CO2 from 2007 to 2019
by 20 percent and we'll go further. Now in terms of economics yes this is an important market. There have been some people who
have not been airlines that have not survived this capacity. But you know this is a day of celebration of competition as well. So
as soon as we touched down in New York. Game on. Yeah. And that's to the benefit of consumers businesses in United Kingdom.
It makes us stronger. Both us and British Airways. And we've seen pent up demand. So I would urge people to book now to get
the good prices because you know it's filling up very very rapidly. What would you think. What do you think competition is
going to look like. Do you think there is going to be a price war. As you say the fares are available now. You're suggesting
they may not be there for forever but nevertheless talk to me about what you think the competitive landscape is going to look
like. So we've seen a bit of departures in this market and this market has three very strong joint ventures that compete head to
head daily to win the hearts and minds of consumers and businesses. No kingdom. So I don't see a difference in the
competition. I think we've all focused on Heathrow as the major hub in the United Kingdom connecting of course the US New York
Los Angeles and other locations. So I see this as a continuation of competition. We've been waiting for the day that we can
compete strongly in the marketplace after such a long period time where it's only been one directional traffic from the US to
the U.K. and now it's open of course to U.K. National. You mentioned Heathrow. What about Gatwick. Yeah. You know we made a
very tough decision in March of last year to really focus our efforts at Heathrow. It's a hub airport. It allows us to connect
more freely with other airlines and of course with our partners. We will return to Gatwick when we filled up the capacity here at
Heathrow which should be at full capacity in terms of the number of sectors and the number of seats versus 20 19 by April 20 22.
And after that when demand returns for leisure travel we'll probably move a bit into into Gatwick but we still maintain our
focus on Heathrow. OK. You talk about tomorrow returning for leisure travel.
I imagine as you mentioned the beginning of the conversation that we get to see VFR visiting friends and family a lot of pent
up demand. What about business travel. That is where a lot of profitability comes from. When does that start to come back in a
meaningful way. Yeah. And it started. So I think our estimates it's about 27 28 percent of the capacity right now is business
capacity. Actually first of the small to medium sized enterprises the large corporations are still kind of figuring
out what they want to do. And we expect behaviour to change in our plans. We see a full return as the business traveler
probably 2023. It may maybe earlier. It's very hard to predict how behavior is going to be impacted. You know the day trip to
Brussels the day trip to New York may not be on the agenda for everyone but we see different patterns people combining leisure
and business. So taking a longer trip attaching a weekend of. The back foot may be coming in with family but overall there is
no substitute to meeting face to face to close a deal to hug a person to celebrate a birthday. It's nice to see you face to
face. I'm not going to hug. Not today. Not today. But you are excited. You're certainly bouncing up and down as you say a
hugely important day. It has been a huge challenge to get the airline to this point to survive. There is a question about
where financing comes sort of from here. There was talk of an IPO.
Is there still talk of an IPO. Where are we. Well you can imagine I'm not going to announce it here on live TV. But I will
say this. Our story of survival has been one of the best documented stories testament to the resilience of our people who
have really put everything they have to ensure that Virgin Atlantic arrives here today and is here for the next 37 days.
We've survived. So we financed remember in September of last year we did a one point five billion pound restructuring. And
since then have subsequently raise more capital. It's true that we owe money. It's true that we need to raise more money to
ensure that our balance sheet is strong. Our balance sheet is strong and can survive whatever comes its way. But we have never
actually commented on the speculation you know and we're not about to do that today. Okay. We'll talk about for now. We may
come back. We'll see what happens. You talk about making sure that you're ready for whatever comes towards you. There are
other challenges. You talk about the debt level interest rates maybe going up.
Fuel costs are certainly going up right now. Kind of talk to me about what you're having to deal with right now in terms of the
additional headwinds that you're now facing. Look. Aviation has proven its extremely resilient. Who would have
thought that we would be shut down. Between the UK and the US for over six hundred days. Yet here we are excited celebrating
the ability to help businesses and consumers and families unite. Look the macroeconomic situation is challenging. Inflation high
fuel costs high but content. The band is also very good and being able to have made tremendous and radical transformation of
our cost base during the pandemic sets us in good stead for the next few years. The conversation that I have day in day out is
about supply chains the cost of freight freight rates super high trying to get stuff around the world incredibly difficult. It
has been probably the most pivotal factor in keeping the airline sector
going during this downturn. You can't fly passengers you can't fly cargo. How does how does the mix change as you start to
reintroduce passengers to the airline and the innovation and. You know just the ingenuity of our team in March 20 20. They
started immediately with cargo only flights by the way using passenger planes and the belly capacity sometimes in service of
the NHS. We put stuff on the seats themselves but overall it's in the belly and that continues. It's true that there is a
dislocation right now. The containers are in the wrong place. The demand is unpredictable. So there is need for eight for
airfreight which we provide. They live in harmony. Passengers in the cabin and cargo into hold. And it's true that the prices
that people are paying for air freight is significantly higher. What they were paying and 20 19 this year will be our record
cargo a year. We thought it was going to be 20 20. It's actually going to be 20 21. And every month keeps on showing that we can
do more by virtue of of you know selling cargo to customers. We need.