LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - Richard Branson's Virgin

Atlantic said on Wednesday it would return to profitability this

year after strong demand from holiday makers drove revenue up by

265 million pounds ($333 million) to a record 3.1 billion pounds

in 2023.

The airline, which is 49%-owned by Delta Air Lines ( DAL ),

reported an adjusted pre-tax loss of 139 million pounds for 2023

compared to a loss of 206 million pounds in the prior year.

Chief Executive Shai Weiss said the carrier had "capitalised

on continued strong demand for leisure air travel and holidays".

"A loss is never satisfactory; however, our performance and

results illustrate that we have made really good progress in

2023, the plan is working, and Virgin Atlantic is on course to

return to profitability in 2024," he said.

The airline operated more flights than in 2019 using a fleet

of 41 aircraft, which was four fewer than pre-pandemic levels,

Chief Financial Officer Oli Byers told reporters.

It flew 5.3 million passengers to long-haul destinations

such as the United States, the Caribbean and India.

The airline's performance since the start of the year was

"very encouraging", Byers said.

"We've seen very strong demand from a premium leisure

perspective and also some further recovery in corporate travel,"

he said.

Corporate travel, which unlike leisure has not fully

recovered since the pandemic, dipped towards the end of 2023,

but was looking stronger this year and was trending up to around

80% of pre-pandemic levels, he said.

Virgin Atlantic, which will launch a second daily service

from London to Mumbai in October, aimed to increase operating

profit to around 200 million pounds this year, double the record

achieved back in 1999, he said.

($1 = 0.7957 pounds)

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar and

Emelia Sithole-Matarise)