British airline Virgin Atlantic has made its first quarterly profit since the US terror attacks.
The airline generated underlying profits of close to £5 million sterling in the three months to April 30th in another indication of an upturn in the market.
Virgin says losses for the 12 months to April 30th would be about £90 million, compared with profits of £45 million a year ago.
The company made a small loss in the same quarter last year but has increased the load factor on its routes after a marketing blitz. The average proportion of seats occupied on each flight has increased from between 80-85 per cent to 85-90 per cent.
Virgin has offered cut-price fares to New York in recent months following on from the offer of a return to the US for £98 in November and December.
A spokesman said passenger numbers were down by around 6 per cent on last year, a significant improvement on the 15 per cent to 20 per cent drop after September 11th.
PA