Travel Industry News at TravelNewsAsia.com since 1997. Interviews, podcasts, videos, pictures and more

 

Business Travellers help to lift Profits for Virgin Atlantic

Travel News Asia Latest Travel News Podcasts Thursday, 28 August 2008

Virgin Atlantics Premium passenger numbers rose by 22% in 2007/08 helping the airline to boost its annual profits. Pretax profits before exceptional items rose 38%, from 44million to 60.9million. Group sales, including tour operator Virgin Holidays, rose 9.1% to 2.336billion.

Pretax profits increased from 6million to 34.8million and retained profits for the year were 47.7million, up from 6.6million. Virgin Atlantics cash position remained strong, with nearly 600m in the bank at the end of the financial year. Cash reserves have continued to build and were 838m at the end of June 2008.

The total number of passengers carried during the year increased by 7.6%, to 5.7 million, as Virgin Atlantic expanded the number of destinations it serves around the world to 30. New routes launched during the last year included London Heathrow to Chicago, Nairobi and Mauritius, as well as Gatwick to Kingston.

The annual profits trigger a bonus payout to staff, who each receive the equivalent of one and a half weeks extra pay. 10% of the groups profits is shared among staff.

Following on from the good results for 2007/08, Virgin Atlantic has had a strong start to its current financial year, with pretax profits in the first quarter of 2008/09 up to 23.5 million. Sales were up 16% to 645.3million, from 558million in the same period the year before. Load factors in the first quarter were 77%, up from 74.8%.

Steve Ridgway, Chief Executive of Virgin Atlantic, said, "While the outlook remains pretty overcast for the aviation industry, the winners will be those airlines that focus on offering the best customer service and which are nimble enough to take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead. Our strategy of slowing our growth has paid off in time for the slowdown in the industry. Against the backdrop of high oil prices and weakening consumer demand, we are well-placed to succeed over the coming months. We have diversified our route network, focused on providing the best product in Upper Class, Premium Economy and Economy, hedged our fuel purchasing and built up a strong cash position."

See other recent news regarding: Travel News AsiaPromotions, New Hotels, Virgin Atlantic

Subscribe to our Travel Industry News RSS Feed Travel Industry News RSS Feed from TravelNewsAsia.com. To do that in Outlook, right-click the RSS Feeds folder, select Add a New RSS Feed, enter the URL of our RSS Feed which is: https://www.travelnewsasia.com/travelnews.xml and click Add. The feed can also be used to add the headlines to your website or channel via a customisable applet. Have questions? Please read our Travel News FAQ. Thank you.

     

Advertising
Advertising

 
Copyright © 1997-2024 TravelNewsAsia.com