Virgin Atlantic has agreed to a rescue deal with shareholders and creditors worth STG1.2 billion pounds ($A2.2 billion) to secure its future beyond the coronavirus crisis.
The private-only deal removes the need for government support that had previously been sought by founder Richard Branson.
The agreement is expected to be completed towards the end of the northern summer and be spread across the next 18 months.
The airline, which is 51 per cent owned by Branson's Virgin Group and 49 per cent by US airline Delta, has had to close its Gatwick base and cut more than 3500 jobs to contend with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chief executive Shai Weiss said the carrier is targeting profitability from 2022.
"The last six months have been the toughest we have faced in our 36-year history," Weiss said in a statement on Tuesday.
"We have taken painful measures, but we have accomplished what many thought impossible.
"We greatly appreciate the support of our shareholders, creditors and new private investors and, together, we will ensure that Virgin Atlantic can emerge a sustainably profitable airline with a healthy balance sheet."
The airline's high-profile billionaire founder Branson had attracted criticism after calling for government help for Virgin Atlantic to survive the downturn.
The government had said that airlines needed to exhaust private avenues of investment before individual support for companies was considered.
In the end, the airline clinched a deal without public funding.
Virgin Group will invest STG200 million ($A360 million), with shareholders providing STG400m ($A720m) of further support through deferrals and waivers.
New partner Davidson Kempner, an investment firm, will also provide STG170m ($A306m) in secured funding, while creditors are supporting the airline through more than STG450m ($A810m) of deferrals.
Australian Associated Press
