Virgin Australia’s IPO prospects are helped by its heavy focus on a strong domestic market

Virgin Australia's move to launch an initial public offering (IPO) highlights the airline's substantial footprint in a booming domestic market, and the debut of new international services via its partnership with Qatar Airways.

The airline is offering about 30% of its shares through the IPO, and intends to relist on the Australian stock exchange on 24-Jun-2025. The airline's majority owner Bain Capital will see its stake reduced to 40%, with Qatar Airways retaining a 23.4% holding, and the remainder held by management and staff.

Virgin Australia has been signalling for several months that it has been preparing for an IPO, and the airline and its advisors have now judged that conditions are in its favour. According to Bloomberg, this is poised to be the largest airline IPO in the Asia Pacific region in a decade.

There appears to be strong appetite for the offering; institutional investors have already committed to participate, and will likely take up most of the available shares.