Virgin Atlantic has shown increased annual profits for the financial year from 2007-2008.  It attributes the success partly to an increase in business class numbers.

The last twelve months has seen Virgin Atlantic’s premium passenger figures increase by around 22 per cent.  The airline claims it took market share from other rival airline carriers, such as British Airways.

The total number of passengers increased to 5.7 million in 2007-2008.  This was an increase of about 7.6 per cent.  In the same time period, Virgin Atlantic increased its number of worldwide flight destinations to thirty.

Locations such as Nairobi, Mauritius and Chicago were available from London Heathrow whilst flights from Gatwick to Kingston were launched.

The President of Virgin Atlantic, Sir Richard Branson, commented:

“It’s ironic that just as regulators are breaking up one monopoly – BAA – British Airways and American Airlines are trying to create another.  Our results prove that consumers want choice on transatlantic routes. Unless the regulators block the proposed BA/AA monopoly, consumers will lose out – and they’ll pay higher ticket prices for the privilege.”

The new financial year of 2008-2009 has started well for the airline as the first-quarter sales were up by around 16 per cent compared to a year earlier.