Virgin Atlantic annual profit up 38 per cent

Virgin Atlantic, the airline controlled by entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Group, said its annual profit rose 38 per cent, helped by an increase in bookings from business travellers.

Virgin Atlantic, which specialises in long-haul flights to North America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia, said its underlying pre-tax profit for 2007/08 was £60.9 million up from £44 million the previous year.

The carrier attributed the increase to a rise in business travel bookings, with premium passenger numbers up 22 per cent on the year, helping boost group sales by 9.1 per cent to £2.34 billion.

Virgin Atlantic, 49 per cent owned by Singapore Airlines, added that it had attracted customers from British Airways due to "ongoing problems" at its arch-rival's new Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport.

Terminal 5 was hit by severe disruption due to baggage-handling problems shortly after it opened in March.

In a statement, Virgin Atlantic chief executive officer Steve Ridgway said the airline was "well placed to succeed", despite high oil prices and weakening consumer demand.