Virgin Atlantic has revealed it suffered a pre-tax loss of £139m in 2023 – but is confident it will return to profit this year.

It comes after the airline, which is 49% owned by US aviation giant Delta, also made a loss in 2022 of £206m.

But the firm said it had made good progress and had “sustained customer demand”. Total revenue had soared to £3.1bn in 2023, up £265m from the year before, it added.

Chief executive Shai Weiss said: “A loss is never satisfactory.

“However, our performance and results illustrate that we have made really good progress in 2023, the plan is working, and Virgin Atlantic is on course to return to profitability in 2024.”

He also insisted that this year would be “the turning point for Virgin Atlantic, the culmination of our transformation and the year we make it count”.

It comes following a difficult few years for the aviation industry in the wake of COVID lockdowns and travel restrictions around the world.

The airline’s financial results for 2023, published on Wednesday, reveal it flew 5.3 million passengers over the 12 months to long-haul destinations including the US, Caribbean and India.

It reported a load factor – the proportion of available seats filled – of 77%.

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Chief financial officer Oli Byers said the airline’s performance since the start of the year had been “very encouraging”.

He told reporters: “We’ve seen very strong demand from a premium leisure perspective and also some further recovery in corporate travel.”

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Virgin Atlantic recently launched new routes to Turks and Caicos and the Maldives, as well as resuming services to Dubai.

It also aims to launch a second daily service from London to Mumbai in October.

The airline hopes to increase operating profit to around £200m in 2024 – double the record it achieved in 1999, Mr Byers said.

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