Virgin Atlantic aims to grow operating margin after return to profit

Virgin Atlantic has said it aims to improve its operating margin in the coming years after returning to profit for the first time since 2016.

The carrier reported profit of £20 million before tax and exceptional items in its 2024 financial results, with the operating margin of £230 million four times greater than in 2023 and double that reported in the previous record year of 1999.

Based on record revenues totalling £3.3 billion, the operating margin was 7%.

Chief financial officer Oli Byers said achieving even a “modest” profit represented a “big leap forward” in the airline’s performance, adding that the aim was to continue in that direction.

Addressing the operating margin of 7%, he said: “When we look at the airlines across Europe and how they performed in 2024, we think that is a strong result in the context of the European industry at the moment.

“Our goal is to grow that further in the next few years on the back of the transformation work we’ve done, the cost base we now have and the way we see revenue opportunities.”

Passenger numbers in 2024 were 5.6 million, with a load factor of 77.3%, which represents a fall on pre-pandemic 2019, when 5.9 million passengers were carried to give a load factor of 81.1%.

Byers said those figures showed there remained opportunities to grow passenger numbers and load factors.

He cited the return of flights to Toronto and Cancun, as well as the introduction of a service to Riyadh, as specific opportunities for growth.

He also noted that seven additional aircraft were due to be delivered in 2027.

“That will take us back to a fleet of 45 aircraft which is similar to the level we had before the pandemic and we think we’ve got opportunities where we can deploy those profitably over the next two or three years,” he said.

In 2016, the airline reported profit of £23 million before tax and exceptional items.