Virgin chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka said it was an important milestone for the business.
“It has been 11 years since Virgin Australia returned a profit,and our results signal that the transformation of Virgin Australia is progressing well,” she said.
“Value and choice are core to our business and as the continuing rise in cost of living impacts household budgets,we believe we are well positioned to continue to provide customers with the best value in the market.”
The recovery in revenue was predominantly driven by “record” demand from leisure travellers as well as business travellers of small-medium businesses,while corporate travellers returned at a slower rate. The airline has been eager to position itself as a ‘value’ carrier,sitting in between the premium and the budget ends of the market.
As the end of border closures ushered in an era of revenge travel,Virgin used every available aircraft in its fleet,which saw domestic capacity return to pre-COVID levels at the beginning of this year. Virgin also won more loyal customers last financial year,with its loyalty business Velocity notching a 68 per cent increase in revenue to $330 million,while with the number of Virgin frequent flyers lifted by 6.5 per cent to 11.5 million members.
The country’s second-largest domestic carrierslid into administration just two months into the COVID pandemic,during which it was unable to service its debts as the coronavirus pandemic grounded most of its fleet and starved it of cash.
Virgin has ambitions toeventually return to the Australian stock exchange,which it delisted from on November 17,2020 after coming into the full control of private equity giant Bain Capital. It has not given a timeframe for when it plans to float and said it is a matter for shareholders. Bain Capital owns about 93 per cent of the business,while Richard Branson-founded Virgin Group owns about 5 per cent and Queensland Investment Corporation owns the remaining 2 per cent.