Virgin Australia: Inside 700,000 Hong Kong hand sanitiser bottle mission

They may be in frantic talks to keep the airline afloat, but that hasn’t stopped one Virgin Australia flight making a pretty unique cargo mission.

They may be in crisis talks to keep the airline afloat, but Virgin Australia hasn’t let the impending future of the company stop them from embarking on a crucial cargo mission.

On Wednesday, the airline flew more than 700,000 bottles of hand sanitiser from Hong Kong to Sydney to ease supply shortages currently experienced in Australia.

Without a single passenger on board, the Boeing 777 was loaded with more than 44 tonnes of critical cargo including medical and healthcare supplies and 700,000 bottles of hand sanitiser – which remains a hot item among Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

RELATED: Virgin Australia goes in to trading halt

Virgin Australia carried more than 700,000 hand sanitisers from Hong Kong to Australia

In Australia, established manufacturers have had difficulty in obtaining bottles, caps, labels and other raw ingredients to make the hand sanitiser which has limited their ability to meet growing demand.

According to the Herald, about three-quarters of manufacturers reported shortages of ethanol, bottle pumps and sprays, and more than half were having trouble sourcing bottles, pouches and gelling agents.

RELATED: Virgin Australia threatens to go into administration

On Tuesday the airline flew more than 700,000 bottles of hand sanitiser from Hong Kong to Sydney.

The Boeing 777 was loaded with more than 44 tonnes of critical cargo including medical and healthcare supplies.

In addition to the cargo flights, the carrier is also undertaking a number of international services to bring Australians home from Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

Virgin Australia’s general manager of cargo Glen Moloney said that these flights in particular are making a great difference to Australians and the economy.

“This flight is one of the many repatriation flights that we are operating to bring people and products back to Australia,” he said.

“We are proud to help Australians and our economy by flying critical cargo.”

Virgin Australia is still in crisis talks over the future of the airline, which is trying to secure the funding to keep flying.

Virgin Australia CEO Paul Scurrah is in crisis talks about how to save the airline. Picture: Glenn Hunt/The Australian

After entering a trading halt on Tuesday, there are reports Virgin Australia may be considering going into voluntary administration to stop buckling under a net debt of $5 billion.

Airlines around the world have copped a battering during the coronavirus crisis, and Virgin has already suspended all but one domestic route, stood down 8000 workers and had its credit rating downgraded.

For the second time this month, Virgin was placed in a trading halt on Tuesday morning, asking the Australian Stock Exchange to put the pause in place for at least two days or until it makes an announcement. According to The Australian that hold has asked the ASX for a further suspension of up to seven days or until the carrier is able to make an announcement about financial plans.

The airline is carrying $5 billion of debt and is only worth $726 million based on its share price of 8.6 cents.