Virgin shareholders threatens to sack workers if it doesn’t get $125m

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Chinese conglomerate HNA, which owns 20 per cent of Virgin owns Swissport which has threatened to fire 2,000 staff if it does not receive $125 million in government funds

A Chinese shareholder of Virgin Australia has threatened to fire 2000 local workers of its ground services subsidiary if the federal government does not pay the company $125 million.

Chinese investment group HNA, a 20 per cent owner of Virgin Australia which went into voluntary administration on Tuesday, also owns Swissport which provides services such as baggage handling.

Swissport released a list of Virgin staff on Tuesday who are at risk of losing their jobs unless the federal government extended a $125 million lifeline.

Swissport warned it could also be forced to liquidate assets at airports such as Newcastle according to the Daily Telegraph.

HNA has been trying to sell Swissport to cut its massive debts, which totalled  $149billion in 2017 after borrowing to purchase a stake in Deutsche Bank New York real estate, a computer distributor and a hedge fund. 

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Swissport warned it could also be forced to liquidate assets at airports such as Newcatle where it runs services such as baggage handling for Virgin. Pictured are Swissport workers at Adelaide Airport

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HNA is said to be the most indebted non-financial company in Asia and in February was forced to reach out to officials in China’s Hainan province for help

Swissport executive vice president Asia-Pacific Glenn Rutherford said the actions of its parent company would not impact their decisions. 

Swissport ANZ itself is a guarantor to almost $1.4 billion of group loans but Mr Rutherford said he still expects the company to receive support from the government. 

Transport Minister Michael McCormack said he was ‘happy to hear them out’ in an upcoming meeting on Friday but reinforced the government would not bail out a foreign company.

‘You can’t apply one principle to Virgin and a different principle to another company in the same industry,’ Mr McCormack said. 

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Transport Minister Michael McCormack said the government would not bail out a foreign company such as Virgin. Pictured are travellers leaving Adelaide Airport on Tuesday

Mr McCormack also criticised Virgin’s billionaire founder Sir Richard Branson for not speaking up sooner.

‘Until Tuesday, I hadn’t heard him say anything,’ he said. 

On Tuesday Sir Richard sent a message of encouragement to the airline’s 10,000 workers on Instagram.

While many were uplifted by Sir Richard’s words of praise for staff, many slammed him for taking aim at the Australian government for failing to use taxpayer money to bail the airline out of debt. 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Swissport ANZ for comment.