Virgin Atlantic reports near-doubling of annual profits

Virgin Atlantic piled on the misery for struggling rival British Airways today after saying it had virtually doubled annual profits.

The airline said pre-tax profits soared from £34.8m (€39.6m) to £68.4m (€77.8m) in the year to February, despite a backdrop of volatile oil prices and a deep recession.

The results contrast with BA’s record annual operating loss of £401m (€456m), reported last Friday, after its fuel bill reached almost £3b (€3.4bn).

The carrier, which is majority owned by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, flew 5.8 million passengers over the period, helped by higher numbers of premium travellers.

BA reported a 13% fall in premium travellers for the second half of its financial year on Friday.

Virgin spent almost £1bn (€1.1bn) on fuel last year, but profits were aided by its hedging of oil prices – which hit $147 (€105) a barrel last July – and currency benefits.