Coronavirus: Virgin Atlantic tells staff to take unpaid leave

Move comes amid warnings that global pandemic could bankrupt aviation industry

Virgin Airline
(Image credit: Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

Virgin Atlantic staff are to be asked to take eight weeks of unpaid leave over the next three months, to help the airline cope during the coronavirus pandemic.

The airline is planning to cut 80% of flights and ground 75% of planes in response to the global outbreak, which threatens to take a wrecking ball to the aviation industry.

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