Transatlantic focus brings Virgin back to profit
Virgin Atlantic has returned to profit for the first time since 2011 and thanked its staff and customers for their support.
The airline, which is celebrating its 30th year, pledged in February 2013 that it would return to profit in two years.
Today it reported a profit before tax and exceptional items of £14.4m, an improvement of £65.4m on the previous year.
It said revenue and profit improvements were driven by ‘disciplined cost control’ and a strong performance in its key North American market, where turnover grew by more than 10%.
It said it was now ‘looking to the future and positioning the business for future growth and sustained profitability whilst making significant investment in customer experience’.
“These profitable results mark the successful conclusion of our recovery period and have put firm foundations in place for the future,” said chief executive Craig Kreeger.
“We are confident that we have the right fleet, network and partners in place to be more profitable than ever before by 2018.”
Virgin formed a joint venture partnership with Delta Air Lines in January 2014, which means its peak daily transatlantic services will rise to 39 from summer 2015. This includes 10 daily departures between London and New York.
Following a review, Virgin withdrew several loss-making long-haul routes last year and also scrapped its domestic operation, Little Red.
Flights between Heathrow and Manchester will stop later this month and Heathrow and Edinburgh and Aberdeen will stop in September.
New routes will be launched this summer between Manchester and Atlanta, Heathrow and Detroit, and Gatwick and Tobago, as well as a series of seasonal flights between Belfast and Orlando and Glasgow and Las Vegas.
There will also be increased frequency in services between Heathrow and major US destinations including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York.
Virgin Atlantic president Sir Richard Branson said: “I can’t think of a better way to complete our 30th birthday year than with a return to profit.”
Virgin Holidays recorded a profit for the year before tax and exceptional items of £5.7m, up £3m year on year.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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