Virgin Australia has become the world’s largest airline to seek bankruptcy protection in the weeks since the coronavirus shutdown created a debt crisis.
A look at Australia’s second-largest airline’s predicament and what it means for other airlines:
WHY IT SOUGHT PROTECTION
A Virgin Australia worker uses his phone at the check-in counters at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Virgin Australia is seeking bankruptcy protection, entering voluntary administration after a debt crisis worsened by the coronavirus shutdown pushed it into insolvency. (AP PhotoRick Rycroft)
Virgin Australia owed 5 billion Australian dollars ($3.2 billion) and hadn’t posted a profit in seven years when the pandemic virtually grounded the aviation industry.
Singapore Institute of Technology economist Volodymyr Bilotkach, author of “Economics of Airlines,” says small-to-medium European airlines with small cash reserves are similarly vulnerable.
Some small European airlines including British regional carrier Flybe have already folded and Norway’s largest airline Norwegian Air has announced three subsidiaries in Denmark and one in Sweden have filed for bankruptcy.
A Virgin Australia worker, left, helps a customer at the check-in counters at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Virgin Australia is seeking bankruptcy protection, entering voluntary administration after a debt crisis worsened by the coronavirus shutdown pushed it into insolvency. (AP PhotoRick Rycroft)
Virgin Australia had asked the Australian government for a AU$1.4 billion emergency loan, but the government refused, partly through fears that the money could be siphoned off to the financially stressed foreign airlines that own Virgin.
Financially stressed airlines typically turn to their governments for a bailout first and then to their owners.
Virgin Australia said some of its major shareholders — Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways, Nanshan Group, HNA Group and British billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Group — were already receiving foreign government support that could not be shared with the Australian business.
The Virgin Australia check-in counters are all but bare at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Virgin Australia is seeking bankruptcy protection, entering voluntary administration after a debt crisis worsened by the coronavirus shutdown pushed it into insolvency. (AP PhotoRick Rycroft)
THE VOLUNTARY ADMINISTRATORS
Virgin Australia has appointed voluntary administrators to assess whether it can be saved by restructuring or should be sold to other investors.
If independent administrators can’t save Virgin, their job it to wind up operations and sell off assets.
A voluntary administrator can be appointed to a company by directors quickly and simply in Australia by passing a resolution that the company is insolvent or likely to become insolvent soon.
The Virgin board did this on Monday night and notified the stock market on Tuesday that full control of the airline had been handed to a Deloitte team.
It’s similar to Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, although insolvent company directors in Australia have no further control once independent administrators have taken over operations.
But whether airlines in other countries are given time to restructure while insolvent or are wound up to pay creditors depends on variations of national corporate laws.
PROSPECTS FOR VIRGIN AUSTRALIA AND GLOBAL AVIATION
At least 10 unnamed potential buyers were quick to start talks with the administrators and have buoyed hopes that Virgin Australia will survive in a leaner form.
The airline is continuing its scaled-down services through the pandemic shutdown.
Analysts agree Virgin is in a stronger position than Ansett Australia, the nation’s former largest airline after Qantas. Air New Zealand-owned Ansett entered voluntary administration in 2001 and winding up the defunct airline took almost a decade.
Australian government and businesses want to avoid Qantas gaining a virtual monopoly over the domestic aviation market, which would likely lead to higher fares for fewer flights.
Bilotkach, the economist, expects that Norwegian Air, LOT Polish Airlines and Czech Airlines are among the smaller European carriers most at risk of succumbing to the pandemic like Virgin Australia due to poor balance sheets and limited government support.
He expects U.S. carriers will survive the crisis better than their European counterparts due to U.S. government support and consolidation of the aviation industry since the global financial crisis in 2008.
Asia would likely lead the international aviation industry’s recovery with Chinese and Japanese domestic markets remaining relatively strong, Bolitkach said.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The death toll from nationwide protests in Iran surpassed 2,000 people on Tuesday, activists said, as Iranians made phone calls abroad for the first time in days after authorities severed communications during a crackdown on demonstrators.
The number of dead climbed to at least 2,003, as reported by the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. That figure dwarfs the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iranian state television offered the first official acknowledgment of the deaths, quoting an official saying the country had “a lot of martyrs” and that it did not release a toll earlier because of the dead suffering gruesome injuries. However, that statement came only after activists reported their toll.
The demonstrations began a little over two weeks ago in anger over Iran’s ailing economy and soon targeted the theocracy, particularly 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Images obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press from demonstrations in Tehran showed graffiti and chants calling for Khamenei's death — something that could carry a death sentence.
Soon after the new death toll became public, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!”
He added: “I have canceled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”
However, hours later, Trump told reporters that his administration was awaiting an accurate report on the number of protesters that had been killed before acting “accordingly.”
Trump said about the Iranian security forces: “It would seem to me that they have been badly misbehaving, but that is not confirmed.”
Iranian officials once again warned Trump against taking action, with Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, responding to U.S. posturing by writing: “We declare the names of the main killers of the people of Iran: 1- Trump 2-” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The activist group said 1,850 of the dead were protesters and 135 were government-affiliated. Nine children were killed, along with nine civilians it said were not taking part in protests. More than 16,700 people have been detained, the group said.
With the internet down in Iran, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The AP has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Skylar Thompson with the Human Rights Activists News Agency told AP the new toll was shocking, particularly since it reached four times the death toll of the monthslong 2022 Mahsa Amini protests in just two weeks.
She warned that the toll would still rise: “We’re horrified, but we still think the number is conservative."
Speaking by phone for the first time since their calls were cut off from the outside world, Iranian witnesses described a heavy security presence in central Tehran, burned-out government buildings, smashed ATMs and few passersby. Meanwhile, people were concerned about what comes next, including the possibility of a U.S. attack.
“My customers talk about Trump’s reaction while wondering if he plans a military strike against the Islamic Republic,” said shopkeeper Mahmoud, who gave only his first name out of concern for his safety. “I don’t expect Trump or any other foreign country cares about the interests of Iranians.”
Reza, a taxi driver who also gave just his first name, said protests are on many people's minds. “People — particularly young ones — are hopeless, but they talk about continuing the protests,” he said.
Several people in Tehran were able to call the AP on Tuesday and speak to a journalist. The AP bureau in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was unable to call those numbers back. Witnesses said text messaging was still down, and internet users in Iran could connect to government-approved websites locally but nothing abroad.
Anti-riot police officers wore helmets and body armor while carrying batons, shields, shotguns and tear gas launchers, according to the witnesses. Police stood watch at major intersections. Nearby, witnesses saw members of the Revolutionary Guard's all-volunteer Basij force, who carried firearms and batons. Security officials in plainclothes were visible in public spaces.
Several banks and government offices were burned during the unrest, witnesses said. Banks struggled to complete transactions without the internet, they added.
Shops were open, though there was little foot traffic in the capital. Tehran's Grand Bazaar, where the demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of Iran's rial currency, opened Tuesday. A witness described speaking to multiple shopkeepers who said security forces ordered them to reopen no matter what. Iranian state media did not acknowledge that order.
The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
It also appeared that security service personnel were searching for Starlink terminals, as people in northern Tehran reported authorities raiding apartment buildings with satellite dishes. While satellite television dishes are illegal, many in the capital have them in homes, and officials broadly had given up on enforcing the law in recent years.
On the streets, people also could be seen challenging plainclothes security officials, who were stopping passersby at random.
State television also read a statement about mortuary and morgue services being free — a signal that some likely charged high fees for the release of bodies amid the crackdown.
Khamenei, in a statement carried by state TV, praised the tens of thousands who took part in pro-government demonstrations nationwide on Monday.
“This was a warning to American politicians to stop their deceit and not rely on traitorous mercenaries,” he said. “The Iranian nation is strong and powerful and aware of the enemy.”
State TV on Monday aired chants from the crowd, which appeared to number in the tens of thousands. They chanted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” Others cried out, “Death to the enemies of God!” Iran’s attorney general has warned that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge.
In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo)
A slogan is written on a wall reading in Farsi: "Death to dictator" in an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo)
A placard is placed on bricks which reads in Farsi: "Long live the Shah," referring to the Pahlavi dynasty which was toppled by 1979 Islamic Revolution, in an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo)
Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)
Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo)
This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)
A picture of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is set alight by protesters outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
FILE - Protesters march on a bridge in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 29, 2025. (Fars News Agency via AP, File)
