BRUSSELS, Belgium, Nov. 6, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Virgin Express (Euronext Brussels: VIRE) (Nasdaq:VIRGY), the Belgian airline, in response to various media reports regarding a proposed link-up with Sabena or its affiliate DAT, wishes to clarify its position.
We have been in discussions with the Sabena management for some months, as announced on October 11, 2001, with the aim of finding a resolution to the crisis in the Belgian aviation industry. The plan presented to us by Sabena, in our view, could put the future of our staff at risk. We therefore do not believe it to be workable. A number of outstanding issues remain unresolved, though discussions continue.
In an effort to reach a joint solution, we have delayed as long as we can our own plans for the future, and we must act now to develop our own business. In the absence of an agreement with Sabena we now believe that it will be in the best interests of the travelling public for Virgin Express to pursue this independent plan, ensuring continuity on key routes between Brussels and major European cities. We also believe that the successful expansion of Virgin Express's activities offers the best prospect for securing employment in the Belgian aviation industry. We remain ready to listen to any other proposals from the Government, Sabena management or the Administrators.
Consistent with this decision, we are pleased to announce the launch of four new destinations for Virgin Express from Brussels to Geneva, Zurich, Stockholm and Gothenburg. Bookings can be made immediately with services starting on the Nov. 12, 2001. We believe these destinations will be very attractive to the growing number of business passengers choosing our services. Furthermore, we expect to announce up to fifteen further new destinations in the coming months. To allow this expansion of our activities, we will employ as many people as possible who have lost their jobs in Belgian aviation.
We are most concerned by the rumours in the Press regarding the future of Sabena. In the event of Sabena stopping flights, we will do everything we can to accommodate stranded and inconvenienced passengers on the routes we operate.
Trading for Virgin Express continues to be strong with passenger load factors averaging 88.5% for the month of October with 81.4% of our flights leaving on time. These figures follow this summer's record passenger load factors and year to date profits for the nine months ending September 2001. We would like to thank our increasing number of loyal customers for their support over this the last year, which has made possible this impressive trading performance in difficult circumstances.