Virgin Atlantic’s domestic subsidiary Little Red sees load factors on average less than 40%, according to figures released from the UK CAA.
Little Red launched UK domestic services from London, to Edinburgh, Manchester and Aberdeen in 2013, as a feeder service for Virgin's long-haul operations.
The airline took over slots at Heathrow that were released by British Airways when the flag carrier purchased BMI.
Virgin insists Little Red is performing well, steadily gaining market share, with load factors rising above 2013 levels.
Little Red’s competitors British Airways and easyJet both record load factors of over 70% on the same routes.