Virgin Atlantic Airways' track record of losses: partnerships should help. Cost cutting would

In part one of our report on Virgin Atlantic, we considered the factors that might influence its decision on whether or not to join the SkyTeam alliance, concluding that remaining outside the alliance may be sensible, at least for now. In this second of two parts, we provide some context for VA's strategic developments through an analysis of its network and the accounts that it files with Companies House.

Its point-to-point focused network is still weighted towards the North Atlantic, but it has also seen growth in Asia and added domestic routes in 2013. It does not have a hub that it dominates and is the leading airline on only a small number of (mainly leisure-focused) routes.

Virgin Atlantic has made an annual profit only once in the past four years and saw a widening of underlying losses in its most recent annual accounts. The number one priority should be to take action to reduce these losses.