Sir Richard Branson Anjali Sundaram | CNBC

Billionaire Richard Branson has said that a loan from the U.K. government is necessary to help his airline business Virgin Atlantic survive the coronavirus crisis. Branson said in a letter to employees, published Monday, that while Virgin Atlantic would do everything it could to keep going during the pandemic, it needed "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, which he stressed "wouldn't be free money and the airline would pay it back." It comes after rival British airline easyJet secured a £600 million loan from the U.K. government earlier this month. Delta Air Lines has a large minority stake in Virgin Atlantic.

Branson was responding to recent criticism over his handling of the coronavirus crisis. He said Virgin Australia also required financial support to get through the pandemic, warning that if the Australian arm of his airline folded, rival Qantas would "effectively have a monopoly of the Australian skies." Virgin Australia, which has reported seven consecutive years of annual losses, is on the verge of entering voluntary administration due to the coronavirus and its $3.2 billion debt pile, Reuters reported Monday.

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