In complete contrast to most of the airlines, which are posting losses amid the downturn, the privately-owned Virgin Atlantic has reported a sharp increase in profits for the year ending February. The airlines' annual pre-tax profits almost doubled from the year-before figures of £34.8 million to reach £68.4 million. 

The Virgin Atlantic results are distinctly dissimilar to the British Airways' annual pre-tax loss of £401 million posted last week, citing a significant fall in number of passengers and a rise in fuel costs.

Though the Richard Branson Virgin Group-owned Virgin Atlantic has credited the increased profits to a rise in its premium fare and business class passengers, as well as its fuel hedging strategy; it has alongside cautioned that owing to the weak economic environment, it would be "almost impossible" for it to make a profit in the ongoing year.

Virgin Atlantic CEO Steve Ridgeway said that a fall in passenger numbers globally showed no signs of abating, thereby making the existing environment the harshest one ever faced by the industry.

Ridgeway said: "We have not seen conditions as tough as this, and we do not see any signs of recovery - for airlines to make a profit this year is almost impossible. The key now is to slow down capital expenditure and preserve cash."

(via TopNews.Europe Contributed by Adalard Von Strauss)