“We’re very focussed on our 737 aircraft footprint. We’ve got 737-700s and 737-800s as well as 737-MAX 8s and 737-MAX 10s coming into the fleet which gives us more reach, and we’re committed to continuing to extend that reach,” she continued.

The carrier has experienced an increase in leisure travellers but the number of people travelling for work remains down on pre-COVID-19 levels. Hrdlicka said the airline’s capacity is tracking at 2018 levels to account for the industry’s current volatility, adding the capacity will fully recover when the work attendance rates return to 2019 levels.

“Domestic leisure travel is a lot more important than it was previously,” Hrdlicka said, “People may trade down on how much they’d like to spend on experiences, but I don’t think they’re going to reduce how many experiences they take.”

The aviation sector has been rocked by a string of operational issues this year including staff shortages, the soaring cost of jet fuel and widespread cancellations which have threatened the industry’s razor-thin margins.

Hrdlicka said the Virgin’s cancellation rates have since dropped to well below 2019 levels and on time performance has returned to pre-COVID levels.

“We expected the market to come back and come back big, but we didn’t know when that would happen,” Hrdlicka said, adding the number of employees at Virgin has grown from 4000 to 7000 people since November 2020.

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