Virgin Atlantic Posts Highest-Ever Profits

British carrier Virgin Atlantic Limited, owned 51% by Virgin Group and 49% by Delta, published on Monday its financial results for the year ending on Dec. 31, 2024.

The company reported revenues for £3.3bn ($4.26bn) resulting in an Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) of £230m ($297.14m), and almost five-fold increase compared over the £48m ($62m) profit posted in 2023 and almost double the profits delivered in 1999, which was so far the best year in the airline’s 40-year history.

The company attributed its strong performance to the 7.6% growth in capacity and to the launch of its Unlimited Availability reward seats for members of its frequent flyer program Flying Club.

Virgin Atlantic Holidays, the company’s tour operator, has regained its leadership in the Florida market where it re-established itself as the number one carrier, generating £517m ($668m) of revenue, equal to more than 15% of its total turnaround.

The carrier’s cargo unit delivered a £236m ($305m) revenue, helping the airline achieve a cash position of £443m ($572m), including a £174m ($225m) pandemic-related debt repayment.

A Modern Fleet and New Destinations

In July 2024, the airline completed its fleet transformation: now, the company flies 45 long-haul aircraft (19 Airbus A330-900s, 12 A350-1000s, and 14 Boeing 787-9s) with an average age of 6.9 years. During 2024, the airline experienced some reliability issues due to the reduced availability of Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines powering its Boeing 787 aircraft, however, it achieved a 98.6% dispatch reliability.

The airline generates almost one-third of its revenue (£1bn or $1.29bn) in the United States, where it flies to 11 destinations from London Heathrow, Manchester, and Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. Virgin Atlantic flies to a total of 26 seasonal or year-round destinations in 13 countries and is planning to expand its network in 2025 with four more destinations.

At the beginning of the IATA 2025 Northern Summer season, on Mar. 30, the airline is launching for the first time flights to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and will resume flights to Toronto, Cana; da, after a hiatus of over a decade. Later in the year, Virgin Atlantic is also planning to resume flights to Tel Aviv, Israel, and Cancun, Mexico.

Shai Weiss, CEO of Virgin Atlantic, commented“Our performance in 2024 marked a big step forward in our mission to become the ‘most loved travel company and sustainably profitable’, with record revenues and operating profit achieved in our fortieth year. We returned to profitability for the first time since the pandemic, repaid a large chunk of debt and faced into operational challenges by taking decisive action. […]

“2024 was a turning point for Virgin Atlantic and the culmination of our transformation. We have a plan in place for 2025, with much to look forward to including a new app, new routes to Toronto, Riyadh and Cancun, a new clubhouse in Los Angeles and greater stability for our operation.”

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Vanni Gibertini

Vanni fell in love with commercial aviation during his undergraduate studies in Statistics at the University of Bologna, when he prepared his thesis on the effects of deregulation on the U.S. and European aviation markets. Then he pursued his passion further by obtaining a Master’s Degree in Air Transport Management at Cranfield University in the U.K. followed by holding several management positions at various start-up carriers in Europe (Jet2, SkyEurope, Silverjet). After moving to Canada, he was Business Development Manager for IATA for nine years before turning to his other passion: sports writing.

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