Virgin Atlantic Airways
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
||
| Virgin Atlantic Airways | ||
|---|---|---|
| IATA VS |
ICAO VIR |
Callsign VIRGIN |
| Founded | 1984 | |
| Hubs | London Heathrow Airport London Gatwick Airport |
|
| Focus cities / secondary hubs | Manchester International Airport | |
| Frequent flyer program | Flying Club | |
| Member lounge | Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse | |
| Fleet size | 35 | |
| Destinations | 31 | |
| Parent company | Virgin Group | |
| Headquarters | Crawley, England, United Kingdom | |
| Key people | Richard Branson (Chairman), Steve Ridgway (CEO) | |
| Website: http://www.virgin-atlantic.com | ||
Virgin Atlantic Airways usually referred to as Virgin Atlantic, is one of the airlines of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, operating long-haul routes between London and North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Its main bases are London Heathrow (LHR) and London Gatwick (LGW), with a smaller base at Manchester International Airport (MAN).
The company holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, it is permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.[1]
[edit] History
[edit] Conception and Birth
Virgin Atlantic's story began in 1982 when Randolph Fields, an American-born lawyer, set up British Atlantic Airways as a direct successor to Laker Airways. However, in order to obtain regulatory approval, Fields needed further financial backing. He met Richard Branson at a "high society" party in central London during which he proposed a business partnership between Branson and himself to get his fledgling airline off the ground. After protracted and testy negotiations, Fields agreed to a reduced stake of 25% in the now renamed airline and became Virgin Atlantic's first chairman. Following a series of disagreements over operational issues, Fields agreed to be bought out for an initial sum of £1 million with further payment due upon Virgin's first dividend payment. Following a High Court action, such additional payment was received shortly before Fields' death from cancer in 1997. Fields also obtained lifetime Upper Class flying privileges for his immediate family and his mother, one of British Atlantic's early backers.
On June 22, 1984 Virgin Atlantic operated its inaugural scheduled air service between London Gatwick Airport and Newark using a single, leased Boeing 747-200, G-VIRG, formerly operated by Aerolineas Argentinas.
The airline became profitable during its first year of operation. The company was able to do this because it used cash flow from the then already well-established Virgin Records business to finance the lease of a relatively "inexpensive", second-hand Boeing 747. The firm also timed the start of operations to take advantage of a full summer's season, which included the June to September peak season, by far the most profitable travel period of the year.
[edit] Formative years
In 1986 the airline added another 747 and started a second scheduled route from Gatwick to Miami. Additional aircraft were acquired and further routes were launched from Gatwick to New York-JFK (1988), Tokyo (1989), Los Angeles (1990), Boston (1991) and Orlando (1992).
[edit] Subsequent developments
49% of Virgin Atlantic was sold to Singapore Airlines in December 1999 for £600.25 million.
In August 2002, Virgin became the first airline to use the Airbus A340-600. Rolls-Royce have won all recent engine competitions for Virgin aircraft; the company's Trent 500s will power the A340s and the Trent 900 will power Airbus A380s on order.
[edit] Growing rivalry with British Airways
Virgin Atlantic has been a bitter rival of British Airways since its inception.
[edit] Background to opening up Heathrow
In January 1991 the UK Government opened the door for Virgin to operate from London Heathrow Airport when it decided to abolish the so-called "London Air Traffic Distribution Rules" in response to growing pressure from the industry.
[edit] Virgin Atlantic's precarious financial position during the early 1990s
According to some industry insider reports, Virgin Atlantic was facing increasing financial problems at that time. This was primarily the result of a sharp reduction in demand for air travel caused by the recession of the early 1990s as well as by people's heightened fear to travel in the aftermath of the first Gulf War. Britain's then Conservative Government, which had presided over the spectacular collapse of the International Leisure Group (ILG) and its wholly owned subsidiary Air Europe resulting in thousands of job losses and was well aware that Dan-Air was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy during that time, was desperate to avoid the collapse of another prominent Independent British airline, especially if its public profile was as high as Virgin Atlantic's. The Government was also conscious of the fact that many of these Independent airlines' employees whose jobs were threatened by the prevailing harsh economic climate at the time used to live in marginal Conservative constituencies. Therefore, the Government decided to let Virgin Atlantic into Heathrow by abolishing the "London Air Traffic Distribution Rules" despite facing mounting opposition from British Airways whose senior management was exerting pressure on the Government to maintain the status quo.
[edit] The "London Air Traffic Distribution Rules"
The "London Air Traffic Distribution Rules" came into effect on April 1, 1978 and were applied retrospectively from the beginning of April 1977. These rules were designed to achieve a "fairer" distribution of traffic between London Heathrow and London Gatwick Airport, the UK's two main international gateway airports. The policy was aimed at increasing Gatwick's utilisation to help the airport make a profit.
The "London Air Traffic Distribution Rules" stated that airlines that did not already operate an international scheduled air service from/to Heathrow prior to April 1, 1977 would not be permitted to commence operations at that airport. Instead, they would have to use Gatwick for all their London-based operations. However, airlines that did not already operate at Heathrow prior to this law taking effect could still commence domestic scheduled services at the airport provided that the BAA, which ran both Heathrow and Gatwick on behalf of the Government, as well as the incumbent Secretary of State for Transport granted them permission to do so. In addition, the "London Air Traffic Distribution Rules" banned all new all-cargo as well as all charter flights from Heathrow as of April 1, 1978.
[edit] BA's response
The decision to open up Heathrow to all newcomers - other than those governed by Bermuda II - angered BA's then chairman, the late Lord King of Wartnaby, who stopped British Airways' donations to the Conservative Party, which was ruling Britain at the time, in protest. Lord King was furthermore angered at the Civil Aviation Authority's subsequent decision to transfer two pairs of unused slots British Airways held at Tokyo's Narita International Airport to his archrival Virgin Atlantic to enable Virgin to increase its frequency between Heathrow and Tokyo from four to six weekly round-trips, thereby making it easier for Virgin to compete against British Airways in the highly lucrative business travel market. Lord King called the CAA's decision to transfer these slots to one of his rivals, which the Government had endorsed, "a confiscation of his company's property".
[edit] "Dirty Tricks"
The Government's decision to abolish the "London Air Traffic Distribution Rules" and to let a small, upstart airline like Virgin Atlantic commence operations at Heathrow in direct competition with British Airways then became the main trigger for BA's so-called "dirty tricks" campaign against Virgin.
In 1992 BA's PR director David Burnside published an article in "BA News", British Airways' internal staff magazine, which argued that Branson's protestations against British Airways were merely a publicity stunt. Branson sued British Airways for libel. BA settled out of court when its lawyers unearthed evidence of the extraordinary lengths to which the company went to try to "kill off" Virgin. BA was faced with a legal bill of up to £3m, damages to Branson of £500,000 and a further £110,000 to his airline. Branson divided his £500,000 amongst his staff in the so-called "BA bonus", each receiving £166.
[edit] Virgin Atlantic taking advantage of BA's self-inflicted travails
In the 1990s, Virgin Atlantic jets were painted with the words "No-Way BA/AA" in opposition to the attempted merger between British Airways and American Airlines [2].
In 1997, following British Airways' announcement that it was to remove the Union Flag from its tailfins in favour of world images, Virgin took advantage of the controversy provoked by introducing a union flag design on the winglets of its aircraft and changed the red dress on the "Scarlet Lady" on the nose of its aircraft to the union flag with the tag line "Britain's Flag Carrier". This was a "tongue-in-cheek" challenge to BA's traditional role as the UK's "flag carrier".
Relations with British Airways improved considerably with the arrival of Rod Eddington as BA CEO though the rivalry between the two airlines continued. Eddington replaced the hapless Robert Ayling, a key player in the "dirty tricks" affair who was dismissed by Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge, the long-serving BA chairman and Mr. Ayling's chief mentor, on behalf of BA's main institutional shareholders after BA had suffered a record loss of £200m on Mr. Ayling's watch during the late 1990s.
[edit] Incidents and accidents
On June 19th, 1984, during the final CAA test flight before full licensing, an engine caught fire due to bird ingestion. The aircraft landed safely.
On June 1st, 1996, flight VS007 from London to Los Angeles made an emergency landing at Iqaluit after a passenger had a heart attack. One of the 747's engines hit a fuel pump on the tarmac as it was taxiing, causing serious damage to the aircraft and a fuel spill. The aircraft had its engines repaired and left four days after the accident.
On November 5th, 1997, after numerous attempts to shake the jammed main landing gear of an Airbus A340-300 G-VSKY failed, the aircraft made an emergency landing at London Heathrow Airport. The aircraft and the runway were damaged as the landing gear collapsed. The aircraft was evacuated safely causing only minor injuries.
On February 8th, 2005, onboard an Airbus A340-600 aircraft en route from Hong Kong to London, the fuel control computer system caused a loss of automatic fuel transfer between tanks. The left outboard engine lost power, and shortly after the right outboard engine also began to falter until the crew began crossfeeding fuel manually. The crew diverted to Amsterdam, where a safe landing was made (ref: Flight International, July 2005).
On July 15th, 2006, G-VWKD (an Airbus A340-600), during take off at Hong Kong International Airport, suffered damage because of a tailstrike and was forced to dump fuel in Hong Kong airspace and return to the airport for repairs. G-VMEG (another A340-600) was sent to rescue the stranded passengers.
According to a report by the AAIU (the Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit) Compared to British Airways: "Virgin Atlantic have eight times as many medical emergencies per million passengers and twice as many diversions, perhaps due to differences in passenger populations, differences in company policies, routings or reporting." [3]
[edit] Flying with Virgin
The airline has three classes of service: Economy, Premium Economy and Upper Class.
Seats in Economy include a maximum seat pitch of 32" (depending on aircraft type). Inflight drinks are free and meals typically include ice-cream and a vegetarian option.
Virgin Atlantic pioneered seat-back personal TVs in all classes, and has begun upgrading its aircraft to an Audio/Video on Demand (AVOD) system called V:Port. The V:Port system offers a choice of approximately 58 full length feature films, 60 audio CDs, and around 200 hours of television shows. Also featured are video games, some of which can be played against other passengers.
Unlike some international carriers, Virgin also gives free personal amenity kits to passengers in all three classes, including items such as: toothbrush, pen, earplugs and eyemask. The Upper Class kit was modified in 2006 to cut down on costs. The packaging was changed to a paper material, and a majority of the items were removed. The intent was that passengers travelling in Upper Class would be able to choose from a wider variety of items by asking Upper Class staff. However due to complaints and problems with the service, Virgin Atlantic is currently reviewing it.
Premium Economy provides a separate check-in, a wider seat with more legroom than Economy, and a pre-flight glass of champagne. Other extras include a full range of newspapers and an after-dinner liqueur. In November 2006 Virgin launched an updated Premium Economy product with purple leather seats and a wider seat than British Airways's business class offering, Club World. Other improvements from December 2006 include china dinnerware and specially designated cabin crew. Virgin aims to roll the new product across most of its fleet by the middle of 2007.
Virgin Atlantic calls its business-class product offering "Upper Class". Upper Class passengers can request complimentary limousine pick-up and drop-off (although the limousine is not available to those who purchase the cheaper "Z" coded Upper Class fare). At the airport, Upper Class passengers can use Virgin's clubhouse lounge. Second-phase improvements to the London Heathrow clubhouse were completed mid 2006 and it currently offers a range of massage and grooming treatments (bookable in advance).
The Upper Class seat is claimed to be the biggest fully flat bed compared with any other airline's business class service (it is at least 79.5" long and 33" wide at the shoulders). Once again, a range of massage and grooming treatments are available to Upper Class passengers mid-flight, in addition to an onboard bar.
[edit] Destinations
Just over half of Virgin's flights leave London from London Heathrow, with the remainder leaving from London Gatwick. There are also daily services from Manchester International Airport to Orlando, and weekly services to Bridgetown and St Lucia.
Virgin flights between the United Kingdom and the United States or the Bahamas bear special names, such as The Trance Atlantic (Miami-Heathrow), The London Shuttle (Boston-Heathrow) or The Rising Star (Los Angeles-Heathrow). More information is available at their dedicated website: VirginAtlanticFlights.com.
- New Services in 2006
- New Services in 2007
- London Heathrow to Chicago (Begins April 23, 2007)
- London Gatwick to Mauritius (Begins November 2007)
- Glasgow to Orlando (Begins June 23rd, 2007/Seasonal)
[edit] Fleet
Virgin Atlantic's Fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of August 2006) [1]:
| Aircraft | # of Aircraft | # on Order |
|---|---|---|
| Airbus A340-300 | 5 | 0 |
| Airbus A340-600 | 17 | 8 |
| Boeing 747-400 | 13 | 0 |
| Airbus A380-800 | 0 | 6 |
In November 2003 Virgin introduced the Upper Class Suite, which is the longest totally flat bed in Business Class. The Upper Class Suite is now finally fitted on all of Virgin's aircraft. As of July 2006, A340-300 G-VBUS and G-VSUN are on wet-lease to Virgin Nigeria Airways. 747s are used on all routes from Gatwick and Manchester. From Heathrow, 747s are used on routes to New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston; along with A340s which are used for all other Heathrow routes. G-VRED (delivered in October 2006) is the first aircraft to wear the new Virgin livery.
| Designation | Aircraft | Entertainment system |
|---|---|---|
| G-VAIR (Maiden Tokyo) | A340-300 (Suite) | ODYSSEY |
| G-VAST (Ladybird) | 747-400 (LGW/MAN Suite) | ODYSSEY |
| G-VATL (Miss Kitty) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
| G-VBIG (Tinker Belle) | 747-400 (LHR Suite) | V:PORT |
| G-VBLU (Soul Sister) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
| G-VEIL (Queen Of The Skies) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
| G-VELD (African Queen) | A340-300 (Suite) | ODYSSEY |
| G-VFAB (Lady Penelope) | 747-400 (LHR Suite) | V:PORT |
| G-VFAR (Diana) | A340-300 (Suite) | ODYSSEY |
| G-VFIT (Dancing Queen) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
| G-VFIZ (Bubbles) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
| G-VFOX (Silver Lady) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
| G-VGAL (Jersey Girl) | 747-400 (LGW/MAN Suite) | NOVA |
| G-VGAS (Varga Girl) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
| G-VGOA (Indian Princess) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
| G-VHOL (Jetstreamer) | A340-300 (Suite) | ODYSSEY |
| G-VHOT (Tubular Belle) | 747-400 (LHR Suite) | V:PORT |
| G-VLIP (Hot Lips) | 747-400 (LGW/MAN Suite) | NOVA |
| G-VMEG (Mystic Maiden) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
| G-VNAP (Sleeping Beauty) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
| G-VOGE (Cover Girl) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
| G-VRED (Scarlet Lady) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
| G-VROC (Mustang Sally) | 747-400 (LHR Suite) | V:PORT |
| G-VROM (Barbarella) | 747-400 (LGW/MAN Suite) | NOVA |
| G-VROS (English Rose) | 747-400 (LGW/MAN Suite) | NOVA |
| G-VROY (Pretty Woman) | 747-400 (LGW/MAN Suite) | NOVA |
| G-VSEA (Plane Sailing) | A340-300 (Suite) | ODYSSEY |
| G-VSHY (Madame Butterfly) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
| G-VSSH (Sweet Dreamer) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
| G-VTOP (Virginia Plain) | 747-400 (LGW/MAN Suite) | ODYSSEY |
| G-VWIN (Lady Luck) | A340-600 (Config. 2) | V:PORT |
| G-VWKD (Miss Behavin) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
| G-VWOW (Cosmic Girl) | 747-400 (LHR Suite) | V:PORT |
| G-VXLG (Ruby Tuesday) | 747-400 (LGW/MAN Suite) | ODYSSEY |
| G-VYOU (Emmeline Heaney) | A340-600 | V:PORT |
Source: [4]
The Virgin Atlantic average fleet age is 6.1 years at June 2006.
Aircraft on order, with registrations assigned:
- G-VWEB (Surfer Girl - tbc.) A340-600 (Suite) with V:PORT entertainment system. To be delivered in December 2006.
- G-VBUG (tba.) A340-600 (Suite) with V:PORT entertainment system. To be delivered in February 2007.
- G-VJAM (Lady Marmalade - tbc.) A340-600 (Suite) with V:PORT entertainment system. To be delivered in July 2007.
- G-VLUV (Sweetheart - tbc.) A340-600 (Suite) with V:PORT entertainment system. To be delivered in September 2007.
- G-VFUN (Party Girl - tbc.) A340-600 (Suite) with V:PORT entertainment system. To be delivered in December 2007.
- G-VXXL (Virgin Lady) A380-800. Originally planned to be delivered in 2006, but due to delays the delivery will be pushed back until 2013
Virgin Atlantic has ordered 6 Airbus A380-800 aircraft with options on 6 more. The first delivery was expected to enter service in 2006 but will now be delayed until 2013.[2] The aircraft will be used on services from London to Hong Kong, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Sydney and Tokyo. The option of using the A380 on other services, eg Orlando, is being explored (ref: Airliner World, March 2005). In the meantime, Virgin Atlantic will extend the leases on their Boeing 747-400s.
Virgin's aircraft are given female names such as "Ladybird", "Island Lady", and "Ruby Tuesday". Many are named after destinations on the Virgin route network, such as "Maiden Tokyo" and "California Girl". Virgin's fleet also has several tongue in cheek registrations, California Girl is G-VLAX, after Los Angeles International. Boston Belle is G-VJFK after Massachusetts' famous son, others include G-VIRG, G-VGIN and G-VXLG for a 747-400 (Ruby Tuesday). G-VYOU has been named in a Virgin Unite eBay auction. The name derives from the homonymous new born child whose parents won the auction.
The Virgin livery features a pinup girl near the nose of each aircraft called the "Scarlet Lady". She was originally painted by Alberto Vargas. Carrying a Union Jack in a form reminiscent of British Airways' traditional "speedbird" logo, now she even has her own aircraft registration and name, an A340-600 registered G-VGAS and named "Varga Girl".
G-VAST, a 747-400 has featured in the BBC's Top Gear television show as a wind source to test the strength of cars in a crosswind.
The following aircraft have been in service for Virgin in the past:
- G-OUZO (Spirit of Melina) A320-200 - now with MyTravel Airways (G-JOEM)
- G-TKYO (Maiden Japan) 747-200 - now with Kalitta Air (N703CK/converted to freighter)
- G-VAEL (Maiden Toulouse) A340-300 - currently stored in basic colours at London Gatwick Airport prior to sale by Virgin Atlantic.
- G-VATH (Hellenic Beauty) A321-200 - now with Turkish Airlines (TC-JME)
- G-VBEE (Honey Pie) 747-200 - now with Transaero (VP-BQA)
- G-VBUS (Lady in Red) A340-300 - now with Virgin Nigeria Airways
- G-VCAT (Wild Thing) 747-200 - now with European Aviation Air Charter (G-CCMA/stored)
- G-VFLY (Dragon Lady) A340-300 - now with Finnair (OH-LQA)
- G-VGIN (Scarlet Lady) 747-200 - now with Kabo Air (5N-EEE)
- G-VIBE (Dancing Queen/later: Spirit of New York) 747-200 - now with Transaero (VP-BQH)
- G-VIRG (Maiden Voyager) 747-200 - now with Kabo Air (5N-NNN)
- G-VJFK (Boston Belle) 747-200 - now with Kabo Air (5N-PDP)
- G-VKID (Sundance Kid/Virgin Sun) A320-200 - now with Iberworld (EC-IMU)
- G-VKIS (Sunkissed Girl/Virgin Sun) A321-200 - now with Turkish Airlines (TC-JMF)
- G-VLAX (California Girl) 747-200 - now with Kabo Air (5N-PPP)
- G-VMED (Mediterranean Maiden) A320-200 - now with Atlasjet (TC-OGF)
- G-VMIA (Spirit of Sir Freddie) B747-100 - scrapped
- G-VOYG (Shady Lady) 747-200 - scrapped
- G-VPUF (High as a Kite) 747-200 - now with Transaero (VP-BQC/stored)
- G-VRGN (Maid of Honour) 747-200 - now with Tradewinds Airlines (N526UP/converted to freighter)
- G-VRUM (Calypso Queen) 747-200 - now with Southern Winds (LV-AZF)
- G-VSKY (China Girl) A340-300 - now with BWIA West Indies Airways (9Y-JIL)
- G-VSSS (Island Lady) 747-200 - now with Transaero (VP-BQB)
- G-VSUN (Rainbow Lady) A340-300 - now with Virgin Nigeria Airways
- G-VTAN (Sunshine Girl/Virgin Sun) A320-200 - now with AtlasJet (TC-OGE)
- G-VZZZ (Morning Glory) 747-200 - now with Transaero (VP-BQE)
[edit] Virgin's Slogans
Over the years, Virgin has used many slogans, including::
- "Mine's Bigger Than Yours"
Written on the back of the Airbus A340-600's because they are the longest passenger aircraft in the world
- "4 Engines 4 Longhaul"
Originally an Airbus slogan when newer versions of the A340 were built until Virgin inherited the slogan. These are written on the engines of planes, because all Virgin's planes are quad-jets as opposed to BA's long haul twin-jet Boeing 777's and Boeing 767's
- "Avoid The Q"
Used to advertise Virgin's London-Hong Kong-Sydney service, the Q being Qantas which also operates the same route.
- "Keep Discovering - Until You Find The Best"
Used to promote the London-Dubai service, playing with rival airline Emirates' slogan 'Keep Discovering'
- "BA can't keep it [Concorde] up!"
Written on the back of G-VFOX during June and July of 2003 after British Airways announced it would retire Concorde the following October.
- "No Way BA/AA"
Used in the late 1990's on several 747-400's to express Branson's displeasure with the proposed British Airways/American Airlines partnership. BA/AA combined held 100% market share on several US-UK routes (i.e. Dallas/Fort Worth-London), and a market share of more than 50% in several more (i.e. Chicago-London, JFK-London).
Others Include: "More experience than the name suggests," "Virgin, seeks travel companion(s)," "Love at first flight," "You never forget your first time," "Extra inches where it counts," "Fly a younger fleet," "One call does it all," "Hello gorgeous" and, in a campaign featuring Austin Powers, "There's only one Virgin on this T-shirt (or bus/etc) baby," and "Twice a day to London" in which Austin Powers is seen riding on the fuselage of a Virgin Atlantic 747. During that time G-VTOP was temporarily named "Austin Powered".
[edit] Events in 2005
To celebrate the airline's 21st birthday the flying lady was temporarily moved to the back of Boeing 747 to create "Birthday Girl". However, in May 2006, the name "Lady Penelope" once again is painted on the fuselage and the '21 years of flying high' stickers have been removed.
[edit] Ownership
- Virgin Atlantic Airways ownership is split, with Richard Branson's Virgin Group owning 51% of the international carrier, and Singapore Airlines of Singapore owning the other 49%.
[edit] Other
- Virgin Atlantic is featured in the latest James Bond film, Casino Royale. Richard Branson, Virgin Atlantic crew, and two of its aircraft (one Airbus A340-600 and one Boeing 747-400), are part of a scene at Miami International Airport (although the sequence was filmed in Prague).[3]
- On September 27, 2006, Richard Branson, on behalf of Virgin Atlantic, announced plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by cutting down on aircraft weight and fuel consumption. [5]
[edit] Further reading
- Gregory, Martyn. Dirty Tricks: British Airways' Secret War Against Virgin Atlantic. New York: Virgin, 2000. ISBN 0-7535-0458-8
- Bower, Tom. Branson. UK: Fourth Estate, 2001 ISBN 1-8411-5400-8
[edit] See also
- Virgin America
- Virgin Blue
- Virgin Express
- Virgin Galactic
- Virgin Nigeria Airways
- Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer
[edit] External links
- Virgin Atlantic Airways
- V-Flyer customer-created site
- Virgin Atlantic Airways Fleet Age
- Virgin Atlantic Fleet Detail
- Virgin Atlantic Passenger Opinions
- LoveMySeat.com Seat Comfort Scores (Detalied seat maps and seat scores)
- Photos of Virgin Atlantic Airways aircraft
[edit] References
- ^ Flight International, 3-9 October 2006
- ^ Goldstein, Steve. "Virgin Atlantic to delay A380 deliveries until 2013", Dow Jones MarketWatch, October 26, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-26.
- ^ "James Bond Seeks Out Virgin Atlantic for "Casino Royale" Assignment," Virgin Atlantic press release, 4 July 2006.
Air Scotland • Air Southwest • Astraeus • Atlantic Airlines • Atlantic Express • Aurigny Air Services • Blue Islands • bmi • bmibaby • bmi regional • British Airways • BA Connect • British Mediterranean Airways • British NorthWest Airlines • City Star Airlines • DHL Air • Eastern Airways • easyJet • Euromanx • First Choice Airways • Flightline • Flybe • Flyglobespan • GB Airways • Global Supply Systems • Highland Airways • Isles of Scilly Skybus • Jet2.com • Loganair • Lydd Air • Manx2 • Monarch Airlines • MyTravel • Silverjet • ScotAirways • Thomas Cook Airlines • Thomsonfly • Titan Airways • Virgin Atlantic Airways • XL Airways
See also: Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom
| Virgin Group |
|---|
| Active | Brides | Cars | Cinemas | Cosmetics | Digital | Drinks | Electronics | Experience Days | Fuels | Jewellery | Mobile | Money | Credit Card | Unite (charity) | Vie | Vines | Vodka | Voucher | Wines | .net | V Festival - UK | V Festival - North America |
| Airlines, Flights & Travel |
| America | Atlantic | Balloon Flights | Blue | Pacific Blue | Polynesian Blue | Express | Galactic | Holidays | Limited Edition Hotels | Limobike | Limosines | Nigeria | Trains | Vacations | TheTrainLine | Blue Holidays |
| Publishing |
| Books | Comics | Interactive | Music | Play | Records | V2 Records | Artemis Records |
| Radio |
| Radio Free | Asia | ouï fm |
| Retail |
| Megastores | Spa | Ware |
| Richard Branson |
| Richard Branson | Richard Branson Business Ventures |
| Members of the Association of European Airlines |
|---|
| Adria Airways | Aer Lingus | Air France | Air Malta | Austrian Airlines | bmi | British Airways | Cargolux | Croatia Airlines | Czech Airlines | Cyprus Airways | Finnair | Iberia Airlines | Icelandair | Jat Airways | KLM | LOT Polish Airlines | Malév Hungarian Airlines | Olympic Airlines | Scandinavian Airlines | SN Brussels Airlines | Spanair | SWISS | TAP Portugal | TAROM | Turkish Airlines | Virgin Atlantic Airways |
