Virgin Australia in profit: loyalty programme and virtual network to drive new growth

After a turnaround that has secured profitable performance in all its flying segments, Virgin Australia will now look to capitalise on that strength by growing revenue in what are lucrative, yet still under-appreciated, segments for airlines: loyalty programmes and virtual networks. The growth platform for Virgin is its domestic business, which the carrier on 28-Aug-2012 announced as having reached its goal of doubling its share of high-yielding corporate and government traffic.

That led to a rise in FY2012 EBIT profit to AUD82.5 million (USD85.6 million), strengthening further loyalty initiatives and growth in codeshare and interline passengers, whose value Virgin wants to increase by AUD150 million per annum. New "niche" partners are also to be added to an already global line-up that has supported revenue growth. "The best part is we did this without buying one aircraft," CEO John Borghetti said, in stark comparison to competitor and former employer Qantas, struggling under the weight of an asset-intensive network.