Branson says security crackdown cost Virgin

The crackdown on airline security may have cost Virgin Atlantic Airways about £15 million ($44.2 million), Richard Branson said today.

But Branson, who owns 51 per cent of the airline, said there had been no noticeable impact on Virgin's forward bookings.

"It cost us a bit of money but I think people are getting quite resilient now," Branson told Reuters in a telephone interview from Canada where he had just attended the first Virgin Festival.

"You would expect a bit of a drop-off in American passengers but we have not noticed any. I think, and hope, the increase in security has been working and overcome people's concerns."

He said he suspected lost revenues and other costs could amount to about 15 million pounds after security at airports was tightened last month in the wake of what police said was a foiled plot to bomb airliners. This forced airlines to cancel hundreds of flights.

Rival British Airways estimated its lost revenues and the cost of hotel rooms for stranded passengers and of repatriating lost luggage at 40 million pounds.

"In the airline business, you expect things will hit the bottom line from time to time," Branson said.

Virgin is 49 per cent owned by Singapore Airlines.

- REUTERS