Virgin Australia expects to return to an annual profit in the 2016 financial year after a strong bounce back in the first quarter.
Australia's second largest carrier has made a $1.7 million profit in the three months to September 30, up from a statutory loss of $59.1 million in the same period a year ago.
Virgin chief executive John Borghetti said the group was on track to return to profitability for the 2016 financial year based on current market conditions.
"This result reflects our continued success in driving revenue per available seat kilometre and yield growth, while controlling costs," he said in a statement.
He said the group's budget airline Tigerair Australia had also improved its performance to deliver its first profit for the September quarter.
Tigerair's earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) bounced to $400,000 to represent a $20.2 million improvement on the same period a year ago.
"This result was driven by significant improvements in unit revenues and cost efficiencies," Mr Borghetti said.
The better financial results came despite the airline cutting its capacity with available seats down 0.8 per cent across its domestic and international operations.
In August, Virgin reported a full year loss of $93.8 million, an improvement on the $353.8 million loss suffered in 2013/14.
