VS Series
British Airways v Virgin Atlantic
Heathrow's two long-haul rivals: the flag carrier and the challenger it never quite shook off. How do their accounts compare?
British Airways leads on turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin and net assets; Virgin Atlantic on growth. British Airways is the biggest by turnover at £14,679m, against £3,370m at Virgin Atlantic. British Airways keeps more of every £100 it takes, £16.55 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like.
Accounts compared: British Airways to Dec 2025 · Virgin Atlantic to Dec 2025
Who they are
British Airways
British Airways PLC · 01777777British Airways is the UK's flag carrier airline, based in London and flying to destinations around the world from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports.In brief: UK flag carrier · Heathrow, Gatwick and London City · oneworld founding member · part of International Airlines GroupFull profile →Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited · 01600117Virgin Atlantic is a long-haul airline flying from London Heathrow and Manchester to North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.In brief: long-haul airline · includes cargo and holidays · London and Manchester · owned by Virgin Group and DeltaFull profile →The Numbers
The leader on each measure is marked. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
Biggest by turnover
British Airways
£14,679m
Most pre-tax profit
British Airways
£2,429m
Highest profit margin
British Airways
16.5%
Fastest-growing turnover
Virgin Atlantic
+2.1%
Biggest employer
British Airways
41,908 staff
Highest pay per head
British Airways
£75,000
Most turnover per head
Virgin Atlantic
£419,000
Largest net assets
British Airways
£6,367m
Most cash
British Airways
£1,593m
The Takeaway
- British Airways converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £16.55 reaches pre-tax profit, against a loss of £5.75 at Virgin Atlantic.
- British Airways is the largest on the top line, £14,679m of turnover, 4.4x Virgin Atlantic's £3,370m.
- Virgin Atlantic is growing fastest, turnover +2.1% on its own prior year.
- British Airways is the biggest employer with 41,908 people; British Airways pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £75,000.
- British Airways has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £6,367m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
British Airways keeps the most: £16.55 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Virgin Atlantic does worst, losing £5.75.
Financing bites hardest at Virgin Atlantic: £10.12 of every £100 goes on interest.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is British Airways (£14,679m), Virgin Atlantic (£3,370m).
By headcount, British Airways leads with 41,908 employees.
The accounting periods all end in the same month. All are on the same filing basis.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
Virgin Atlantic grew fastest, turnover +2.1% on its own prior year, ahead of British Airways (+0.8%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
British Airways employs the most, 41,908 people, against 8,036 at Virgin Atlantic.
British Airways has the highest average staff cost, about £75,000 a head; Virgin Atlantic the lowest, about £68,000.
Virgin Atlantic brings in the most turnover per employee, about £419,000, against £350,000 at British Airways. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
Held by International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 46 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns British Airways →
Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited · 01600117Held by Virgin Travel Group Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 43 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Virgin Atlantic →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | British Airways | Virgin Atlantic |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | BRITISH AIRWAYS PLC | VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS LIMITED |
| Company number | 01777777 | 01600117 |
| Incorporated | 1983 | 1981 |
| Accounts filed | 4 June 2026 | 10 May 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £14,568m | £3,301m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £2,835m | -£79m |
| Staff costs | £3,142m | £545m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 21.4% | 16.2% |
| Employees, prior year | 40,521 | 7,629 |
| Dividends paid | £916m | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 46 | 43 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
British Airways v Virgin Atlantic: common questions
Who is the biggest of British Airways or Virgin Atlantic?
British Airways, with turnover of £14,679m in the year to December 2025.
Which makes the most profit?
British Airways: £2,429m pre-tax in the year to December 2025.
Which employs the most people?
British Airways, with 41,908 employees in its latest accounts.
British Airways or Virgin Atlantic: which is bigger?
British Airways, with turnover of £14,679m against £3,370m at Virgin Atlantic on their latest filings. On margin, British Airways keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
Related
British Airways v Virgin Atlantic: revenue, profit and who owns them
VS Series TRAVELUK airlines
From long-haul flag carriers to island hoppers. Who flies at a profit?
British Airways · Virgin Atlantic · easyJet · Jet2 · TUI · Wizz Air UK · Ryanair UK · Loganair
8 companies compared →