Virgin Atlantic has pushed back forecasts for a return to profitability, as rising costs hampered its ability to capitalise on a sharp rebound in air travel.

The airline, owned by billionaire Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, said on Wednesday that it expected to turn a profit in 2024, after predicting last year it would be “sustainably profitable” in 2023.

The airline reported a loss before tax of £342mn for 2022, an improvement on the £468mn loss it posted the previous year.

The announcement underlines Virgin’s longstanding troubles and sets the airline apart from its rivals, which have recently welcomed a return to profitability after Covid-19 restrictions on international travel were eased last year. British Airways owner International Airlines Group in February put two years and €10bn of losses behind it to report an operating profit of €1.3bn for 2022.

Virgin’s passenger numbers almost quadrupled last year, lifting revenues to £2.9bn, or 98 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. However, profitability had been hit by “persistent high inflation” and a weaker than expected pound, said chief financial officer Oliver Byers.

He added that the rapid rise in interest rates, as central bankers sought to control inflation, had also increased the cost of repaying Covid-related debts. After being denied access to government funds, Virgin was forced to raise more than £1bn from the private sector.

Byers said Virgin did not expect to be “that far away” from profitability by the end of 2023, when it was forecasting record earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation. He said the airline would not need to implement further cost-cutting plans to deliver a profit.

The Virgin Group owns 51 per cent of the airline, while the remaining 49 per cent is held by US carrier Delta Air Lines. Since 2020, Virgin has announced thousands of job cuts and set out to achieve £300mn in annual cost savings.

Since its creation in 1984, Virgin has traded on its glamorous image and premium cabins, branding itself as a disrupter shaking up a tired industry. But unlike others in the sector, it had struggled to turn a profit even before the pandemic devastated airlines, with its difficulties blamed on a weak pound post-Brexit and problems with the Rolls-Royce engines that powered its Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

The group’s business, which is focused on long-haul flights, was left particularly exposed when travel restrictions were imposed in 2020. In contrast to some of its rivals, UK ministers rebuffed the airline’s appeal for government support, a request that had raised eyebrows following Branson’s historic criticism of state aid.

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