Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic today reported its best profits performance since 1999, despite losing £60m to higher fuel costs.
Virgin reported pre-tax profits of £68m in a year when it was forced to slap a fuel surcharge on air fares after oil prices hit new highs.
But the carrier headed off any criticism that the surcharge was a tool to boost profits, saying it recovered only one-third of the additional costs it faced during the year.
The surcharge was introduced exactly a year ago and has been raised in line with the rapid increase in oil prices. Virgin lifted the levy on a long-haul flight from £10 to £16 in March and key rivals such as British Airways have followed suit.
The profits figure for the year to February 28 compared with £20.9m for the previous 10 months, while turnover also rose from £1.27 billion to £1.63 billion.
4.4 million people flew with Virgin Atlantic last year compared with 3.4 million in the previous reporting period.
