 Virgin profits took off despite problems facing other airlines |
Sir Richard Branson's airline Virgin Atlantic has returned to profit, despite facing obstacles such as the Iraq war and Sars outbreak which have hit air travel. For the year to April it posted pre-tax profits of �15.7m, compared with a loss of �92.6m last year.
However, the number of passengers flying with the airline fell to 3.86 million from 4.08 million the previous year.
Sir Richard put Virgin's good news down to good performances by the group's cargo and holiday businesses, and "tight control of costs".
'Fantastic achievement'
"Despite having almost every imaginable obstacle thrown at us, I'm immensely proud that our team at Virgin Atlantic made a profit," Sir Richard said.
"This is a fantastic achievement on the part of staff and management.
"Their success has been achieved in the face of testing market conditions and is a result of our strong load factors, which even now exceed those of low cost operators."
Looking ahead, Sir Richard warned industry conditions will remain "tough for some time".
Virgin's figures are in stark contrast to British Airways which unveiled a �40m pre-tax loss for the April to June period.
Those figures did not include the estimated �30-40m that BA said its recent staff dispute over clocking on would cost it.
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