LONDON (Reuters) – Virgin Atlantic, the British airline founded by billionaire Richard Branson, has delayed its plan to list until early 2022 to focus on the reopening of the transatlantic market, said a person familiar with the situation.

In November, the United States will permit fully-vaccinated passengers from Britain and other countries into its main market. This is Virgin Atlantic’s first major market reopening in over 18 months.

According to August reports, Virgin was considering a flotation this fall, however, it has decided that it will wait until next year in order to focus on the larger restart of travel between Britain, America, and Britain.

The U.S. rule change was announced by Virgin on September 21. Bookings surged 600% that day.

Branson, through Virgin Group, owns 51% of the airline. U.S.-based Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE 🙂 holds the remainder. The company declined to discuss its IPO plans.

Many airlines were financially struggling during the Pandemic. However, Virgin long-haul specialist Virgin suffered more from the lengthy closures of U.S. air routes. The 1.5 billion-pound rescue that was provided by Virgin between March 2021 to Sept. 2020 saved the airline.

The person said that Virgin was looking at other financing options in addition to the IPO.