Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss continues to be hopeful the carrier can return to profit for the first time since 2016 this year.
The UK carrier had last April indicated it was “on track” to return to the black this year after narrowing its pre-tax loss before exceptional items to £139 million ($175 million) in 2023.
Virgin had originally targeted a return to profit last year, but although successively reducing its losses since the highs incurred during the pandemic, pushed this hope back to 2024.
“Right now, Virgin Atlantic is in transformation,” Weiss said, speaking during the Airlines 2024 conference in London on 25 November. ”We are about to post, I would hope, by the end of this year, record revenues, record operating profit and, with a bit of luck, our first profit in a very long time.”
Weiss, speaking during an on-stage interview at the conference, gave the update as part of a response to a question about the prospect of returning to London Gatwick. The airline scrapped its operations at the south London airport when the pandemic hit, and has since focused its London operations on Heathrow airport.
He says the airline remains interested in a return to Gatwick, but only ”when the time is right”.
”Gatwick is our historic home, that is where our first flight departed, that’s where our office is. And yes we would love to go back to Gatwick when the time is right and when the opportunity is right,” he says. “We know there is demand for more leisure [travel], but it’s basically a growth opportunity.”
