Virgin Atlantic braced for losses in 2017 as headwinds pick up

British airline Virgin Atlantic warned Tuesday that it expects to fall back into loss this year after three years of profits, as competition intensifies, fuel costs rise and a cheap pound takes its toll on the business. CE Craig Kreeger put the impact on profits of Britain's decision to leave the EU at around GBP50m after the carrier reported a 2% increase in underlying pre-tax profit for 2016 to GBP23m. It had originally expected a significant increase in profits for 2016. Virgin Atlantic, which is owned by founder Richard Branson's Virgin Group with 51% and US carrier Delta on 49%, typically sells more of its tickets to customers in Britain than elsewhere and the fall in sterling following the Brexit vote affected both revenues and profits last year. With the weak pound making it more expensive for Britons to travel abroad, Virgin Atlantic is now seeking to increase ticket sales to customers based in the United States, Hong Kong and China. After Delta bought its stake in Virgin from Singapore Airlines for $360m in 2013 it put a new emphasis on transatlantic routes. "The UK has never been a better bargain," Kreeger told Reuters. "We are selling much more aggressively to foreign points of sale. But even that feels like it won't be enough," he said.<br/>