Virgin flies to its first profit in four years

VIRGIN Atlantic gained some much-needed altitude as it posted a £14m profit – its first since 2011 – after turning around a £51m loss.

Airline bosses said it confirms ‘the successful delivery of its two-year recovery plan’ and was helped by its joint venture with Delta Air Lines.

For the year to December 31 the Virgin Atlantic group reported a profit, before tax and exceptional items, of £14.4m on £2.9bn revenues.

Virgin Atlantic made a loss of £102m in the year to December 2012 and was last in profit in the year to February 2011, when it was £18.5m in the black.

A spokesman said the company ‘is looking to the future and positioning the business for growth and sustained profitability’.

Some 6,156,000 passengers flew with the airline.

Virgin Holidays recorded a profit for the year before tax and exceptional items of £5.7m – up £3m year on year on revenues that were up 1.1pc. Cargo revenues fell 1.8pc.

The airline celebrated its third consecutive year of increased passenger satisfaction scores – up 11pc since 2012 – with 85.5pc of flights departing within 15 minutes of schedule.

Chief executive Craig Kreeger said: ‘These profitable results mark the successful conclusion of our recovery period and have put firm foundations in place for the future.’

Virgin Atlantic has increased transatlantic flying after ditching several loss-making routes and is axing domestic operation Little Red, whose flights between Heathrow and Manchester cease later this month, with those from Heathrow to Edinburgh and Aberdeen ending in September.

Last year Virgin Atlantic introduced a five-year plan to ‘drive customer satisfaction, staff engagement and profitability to record levels by 2019’.