VIRGIN ATLANTIC has revealed ambitious plans to grow to record levels of sustained profitability by 2018. The initiative, which builds upon the carrier’s existing two-year recovery plan, focuses on improving the customer experience as well as updating its network to maximise its partnership with Delta Air Lines.
Virgin suffered particularly badly during the global economic downturn, posting a £112 million pre-tax loss for 2012. It has since implemented a wide-reaching recovery programme covering network, alliances and managing its cost base in a way that has not impacted on its customers. It has also increased it revenues and passenger numbers and hopes to break even this year.
The carrier’s latest round of network changes will deliver five new daily transatlantic rotations and more than 500 additional flights during the 2015 summer season compared to 2014. They will include the launch of daily links from London/Heathrow to Detroit, as well as additional daily services to New York/John F Kennedy and Los Angeles. Longer term, connections to San Francisco and Atlanta will increase will rise to five a week and twice-daily respectively from next summer while Virgin is also seeking regulatory approval to fly additional services to Miami this winter.