Virgin Voyages has confirmed that redundancies have been made within its shore-side team in the US due to coronavirus.

The cruise line, only launched in 2020, was forced to postpone its maiden programme and showcases earlier this month due to the virus.

Its new ship Scarlet Lady will now embark on its first sailing in July.

In a statement released, Virgin Voyages said: “When Virgin Voyages was founded nearly seven years ago, we never dreamed the world and our industry would be facing the type of challenges we all are today.

“These are especially hard times for hospitality and travel. We have strong stakeholders who are completely behind us and supportive of Virgin Voyages, but there is a need to make some tough decisions in the interim.

“Our goal right now is to take care of our crew as much as we’re able to despite the global challenges, as Virgin has always been a people-first brand. Until we set sail in July, we wish health and wellbeing to all and we look forward to when we can travel together again.”

Earlier this week, Richard Branson announced that he will be pumping $250 million into Virgin Group to help save the jobs of his staff, which have been put in jeopardy due to the coronavirus outbreak.

He said: “The chances of securing widespread economic recovery will depend critically upon governments around the world successfully mobilising various newly announced support programmes, which in these unique circumstances will be essential to protect people’s livelihoods.

“We are also listening to our team members around the world to see what other things we can do to support them, their families and communities and will be rolling out a series of programmes over the coming months.

“Our people have and, will always be, my number one priority. It is their future job security and their wellbeing that I am 100 per cent focusing on, in these frightening and unprecedented times.”

Our view:

The cruise industry is facing an unprecedented and ever-changing situation, and we are committed to keeping you informed with the most up-to-date news. However, we firmly believe that the cruise industry will bounce back. When it does, we’ll be on hand to help you get back to selling the cruises that people love.