Deeper loss for Virgin Atlantic
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
Virgin Atlantic posted a bigger annual loss of GBP93 million in its year-end results up to the end of February.
The figure was worse than its GBP80m loss last year and was blamed on the economic situation and the Olympic Games.
Its revenue increased 5% to GBP2.87bn with 188,000 more passengers at 5.5m in total. Nearly half of its extra passengers booked premium economy or upper class seats, up 9.2% in total.
Forward sales at the airline are up 6% for 2013/14 and it now has 100 shops.
New CEO Craig Kreeger says he wants to turn the airline to profitability within two years.
“Last year saw a double dip recession, a continued weak macro economy, and an Olympic Games which, although a fantastic event, severely dented demand for business travel. Despite these challenging circumstances, the enduring strength of the Virgin Atlantic brand has not wavered – we have increased our revenues, our load factors, and carried many more passengers than the previous year,” he said.
“Virgin Atlantic has a programme of measures going forward which I am confident will improve our financial performance considerably in 2013/14 and put us firmly on the road to a return to profit in spring 2015,” he added.
His strategy will include its new Little Red domestic services; its joint venture with Delta; mor fuel-efficient aircraft and cost-saving initiatives.
“I am confident we have concrete plans in place to take Virgin Atlantic forward and return the business to profitability within a two-year time frame,” added Kreeger.