Tag Archives: virgin atlantic

Virgin Atlantic is close to making a decision on 5 additional Boeing 787s, updates its fleet retirement plans

Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) is close to making a decision on its five Boeing 787 options according to this report by Bloomberg. The British carrier is updating its fleet plans as it retires its older aircraft types with the new generation aircraft.

According to the report, Virgin Atlantic will retire the last Airbus A340-300 (above) at the end of February 2015. The last five Boeing 747-400s will leave the fleet between September 2015 and July 2016.

Two Airbus A340-600s will be retired at the beginning of 2015.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. The older Airbus A340-300s will be the first to be retired in February. Virgin Atlantic Airways’ Airbus A340-313 G-VFAR (msn 225) climbs away from London’s Heathrow Airport.

Virgin Atlantic Airways:

Virgin Atlantic’s first Boeing 787-9 makes its first flight

Virgin Atlantic Airways‘ (London) first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner registered as G-VNEW (msn 40956) and named “Birthday Girl” (above) yesterday (September 23) made its first flight at Paine Field near Everett, Washington.

Top Copyright Photo: Bernie Leighton/AirlinersGallery.com. G-VNEW is pictured at Paine Field preparing for its first flight.

Virgin Atlantic:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Daniel Gorun. G-VNEW arrives back at Paine Field after the historic first flight.

Video: The building of the first Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9:

Virgin Atlantic to drop Cape Town, Mumbai, Tokyo Narita and Vancouver

Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) is closely aligning its network with Delta Air Lines (Atlanta), discontinuing four destinations which will free up aircraft for more promising routes or adding to profitable existing routes. The carrier will drop all service to Cape Town (April 27, 2015), Mumbai (February 1, 2015), Tokyo Narita (February 1, 2015) and Vancouver (October 11, 2014). The company issued this statement outlining this major revamp of its system:

Virgin Atlantic has identified opportunities for investment into its trans-Atlantic schedule as it looks to maximize the benefits of its joint venture partnership with Delta Air Lines.

We are outlining a program of network changes that will significantly increase our presence in the key UK – US travel market, whilst we continue to fly to major strategic destinations in the rest of the world and retain a relevant global presence.

The proposed changes include:

A new daily service from London Heathrow to Detroit offering new connections across North and Central USA such as Cincinnati, New Orleans, Memphis and Indianapolis*

A fifth daily service from London Heathrow to New York, JFK

An additional daily service from London Heathrow to Los Angeles

An additional daily service during the summer season from London Heathrow to Atlanta

An additional summer seasonal service from London Heathrow to San Francisco flying five times a week

An additional daily service during the winter season from London Heathrow to Miami

A transfer of operations with joint venture partner Delta Air Lines that will see Virgin Atlantic fly a daily service between Manchester and Atlanta and Delta fly one of Virgin Atlantic’s existing London Heathrow to Newark services**.

Across the joint venture, Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines will now offer ten daily services from London to the New York area.

In addition, Delta Air Lines will launch a new daily service between Manchester and New York JFK in Summer 2015.

In order to maximize these opportunities, further proposed changes will include:

A withdrawal of operations to Tokyo Narita with the final flight from London to Narita on January 31, 2015 and the final flight from Tokyo Narita to London on February 1, 2015.

A withdrawal of operations to Mumbai with the final flight from London to Mumbai on January 31, 2015 and the final flight from Mumbai to London on February 1, 2015.

The summer seasonal service from London Heathrow to Vancouver will not return after this season’s flying program is completed on October 11, 2014.

The winter seasonal service to Cape Town will operate as planned in winter 2014/15 but will not be renewed the following winter. The final flight from London to Cape Town will be on April 26, 2015 and the final flight from Cape Town to London on April 27, 2015.

Craig Kreeger, Chief Executive at Virgin Atlantic said:

“Our ambition is to be profitable for the long term, earn competitive returns, and invest those into providing the very best experience for our customers on the routes they most want to fly.”

“Trans-Atlantic flying has always been at the heart of our network and our most financially successful region. This announcement allows us to play to our strengths and focus our network on routes between the UK and US, as well as other critical global destinations that are most important to our customers.”

“We are confident that with this strengthened network, our new aircraft and our welcoming people delivering unrivalled service, we have all the right ingredients to achieve long-term success.”

Customer investment

Among the plans the airline has set out is a commitment to investing in customer experience. A major program of work is already underway that will see £300m invested by the end of 2018, on the ground and in the air.

The imminent arrival of Virgin Atlantic’s first Boeing 787-9 will continue a fleet modernization program of over £2bn that will give it one of the youngest fleets in the world.

Virgin Atlantic would like to thank its customers and staff in Tokyo, Cape Town, Mumbai and Vancouver for their loyalty and commitment to our services.

In the future if Heathrow gains its long overdue expansion, Virgin Atlantic would love to re-enter Tokyo, Cape Town, Mumbai and Vancouver.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. As part of this master plan, the Boeing 747-400 fleet will slowly being reduced. Boeing 747-443 G-VROY (msn 32340) lands in Las Vegas.

Virgin Atlantic Aircraft Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Virgin Atlantic to introduce the new Boeing 787-9 on the Boston route

Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) has announced it will introduce its new 264-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on the London (Heathrow)-Boston (Logan) route on October 28. The first 787 is due in September with 16 on order. After BOS, the 787 will be deployed to other U.S. East Coast cities from London. London Heathrow-Washington Dulles 787 service will start on December 17 and London Heathrow-New York JFK will follow on February 28, 2015.

Virgin Atlantic issued this statement:

We’re delighted to reveal the plans for our new $5 billion Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner fleet, continuing our investment in our customer experience. Flying from ‘old’ England to New England, the aircraft’s first route will be between London Heathrow and Boston, with the service scheduled to start on October 28 and fly six times a week.

It’s 30 years since Sir Richard Branson took Virgin Atlantic’s inaugural flight across the Atlantic from London Heathrow to New York Newark on the June 22, 1984. To celebrate this 30th milestone, the new 787 aircraft is named ‘Birthday Girl’ and features some very special paintwork. For the first time ever, our iconic Virgin Atlantic ‘Flying Lady’ will be displayed face on – and she is carrying a celebratory champagne flute!

Setting the bar

After the Boston launch, we’ll deploy our Dreamliners on other key London to US East Coast markets initially, with subsequent services between Heathrow and Washington, Heathrow and Newark and Heathrow and New York JFK scheduled to start in the following five months. As the fleet grows, the aircraft will also benefit passengers on longer-haul routes where the on-board experience and fuel efficiency benefits are even further amplified.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming this aircraft to our fleet,” said our chief executive Craig Kreeger.

“For the last 30 years we’ve been proudly serving and delighting our customers and we know the Dreamliner will set us the bar to take that even further, bringing with it new innovations and a cutting edge product for them to enjoy.”

“The 787-9 will represent over half of our fleet by 2018, which demonstrates our commitment to the Dreamliner as the centrepiece of our future fleet. We’re looking forward to the next 30 years.”

Virgin Atlantic will be the first European carrier to take the larger Boeing 787-9 version of the Dreamliner, with the first aircraft planned for delivery in late September. Our aircraft will initially be configured with 31 Upper Class, 35 Premium Economy and 198 Economy seats.

Upper Class passengers will enjoy a new iteration of our ‘Upper Class Suite’ which incorporates all of the popular features of this, along with some new design elements. There is a refreshed Premium Economy cabin with an even more comfortable seat design and a social space where customers can stretch their legs and mingle with other passengers – the Wander Wall. Economy seats will be best-in-class with the Recaro 3620 model. Passengers throughout the aircraft will benefit from access to wifi connectivity, with the latest in in-flight entertainment, and dynamic mood lighting throughout.

New efficiencies

As well as the passenger benefits, the Boeing 787-9 will bring us major commercial and environmental benefits. Radically improved fuel efficiency means it is 21% more efficient on a per flight bases than the equivalent sized aircraft in our fleet, allowing it to be a major driver of both our return to profitability and our commitment to improve carbon efficiency by 30% before 2020.

It also has a 60% smaller noise footprint than aircraft of a comparable size, meaning large areas around Heathrow airport will be less affected by our operations with these aircraft. The 787-9 is key in achieving the industry leading commitments we set out in our Noise Management Strategy last autumn.

Further details around the look and feel of the interior of our new Dreamliners will be revealed soon.

Image: Boeing and Virgin Atlantic.

Virgin Atlantic:

Virgin Atlantic reduces its full-year loss to $85.7 million for 2013

Virgin Atlantic Ltd (VAL) Group (Virgin Atlantic Airways) (London) reported its financial results for the calendar year ending December 31, 2013. The results demonstrate strong progress towards the airline’s target to return to profitability by the end of this year, with a pre-tax loss of £51 million ($85.7 million). The airline set out a two year recovery program at the start of 2013 and the improved financial performance in the first year was largely driven by an increased revenue performance and greater operational efficiencies.

These results are based on Virgin Atlantic’s new financial reporting period which now aligns with the calendar year. As a result of the change in financial year, the Group is also disclosing statements to cover a 10 month period for March to December 2013, which show a £7 million pre-tax profit.

Calendar year ending December 31, 2013 Group Performance (pro forma figures given are for the calendar year to aid comparison.)

A Group pre-tax loss over 12 months of £51 million, an improvement of 50% on the calendar year ending December 2012 (£102 million pre-tax loss). The pre-tax result over 10 months was a £7 million profit.

Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive Craig Kreeger has committed to returning the airline to profit by the end of 2014 and has set out a clearly defined strategy to transform the financial performance of the business.

Craig Kreeger said:

“The Group has made good progress in 2013 towards our target of a return to profitability by the end of this year. We have implemented a programme of measures which put in place firm foundations for future success and our results to this point show that we are delivering against our plan.

“Our strategy has been to focus on network, alliances and managing our cost base in a way which has not impacted on the customer. For example, use of a new fuel management system delivered savings of £8m in a single year.

“We have also increased our revenues and passenger numbers, which is the result of both a committed workforce providing exceptional customer service and a loyal customer base with high advocacy. We’re thrilled with the response we’re seeing from our customers.”

The period covered in the accounts published today was a significant one for Virgin Atlantic. During the year it received approval for its Joint Venture with Delta Air Lines and launched a code share agreement with the US carrier. The partnership will deliver significant customer and commercial benefits and allow both airlines to compete more effectively in the transatlantic market.

A new domestic short haul operation, Virgin Atlantic Little Red, was launched to reinstate competition on three routes which had previously been subject to a monopoly – between London Heathrow and Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Manchester – and give renewed choice for connections to the long haul network.

It was also the first full year in which all 10 of the airline’s twin-engine A330 fleet were in operation. These aircraft delivered significant fuel savings leading to an average 6% less fuel being consumed on each flight when compared with the previous year.

Virgin Atlantic has further key developments planned for this year as it celebrates its 30th year of flying and challenging the status quo. The joint venture with Delta Air Lines is now in place, giving passengers more options to fly than ever before: including 9 flights a day from London Heathrow to New York and onward connections with Delta to 84 US destinations. The first in a fleet of 16 Boeing 787-9 ‘Dreamliners’ will arrive from the autumn, an aircraft which is expected to deliver a step-change for the business and allow the retirement of older four engine aircraft.

There will be noticeable improvements for passengers, with an industry-leading new service training program for staff, and technological improvements such as a wifi roll-out and expanded use of personal electronic devices throughout each flight. Virgin Atlantic recently became the first airline to trial wearable technology with Google Glass, and will shortly rollout a new uniform, designed by Vivienne Westwood, to showcase our customer facing teams in a sharp and colourful way.

Craig Kreeger continued:

“Going forward, the impact from our Delta relationship which greatly enhances our revenue opportunities in the US, improving result from Little Red services and improvements in selling activity, supported by a strong focus on managing the cost base and on fuel efficiency gains, mean we are confident that we will deliver on our target and return to profitability.

“We are building a sustainable and profitable airline for the future and it is an exciting time for our company.”

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Virgin Atlantic is basing its financial recovery around the pictured Airbus A330-300 and the upcoming Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Airbus A330-343X G-VGBR (msn 1329) arrives at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).

Virgin Atlantic:

Virgin Atlantic Airways to drop service to Sydney on May 5

Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) is dropping all service to Sydney, Australia due to increasing costs. The carrier will drop the Hong Kong-Sydney extension on May 5. The airline will continue to operate the London (Heathrow)-Hong Kong portion of the route.

The airline issued this statement:

It is with regret that Virgin Atlantic has announced, its intention to withdraw operations between Sydney and Hong Kong from May 5, 2014, due to increasing costs and a challenging economic environment.

However, Virgin Atlantic will continue to operate services, between London Heathrow and Hong Kong.

Craig Kreeger, Chief Executive at Virgin Atlantic said:

“We intend to withdraw our services between Sydney and Hong Kong. Despite the best efforts of our employees, external factors such as increasing costs and a weakening Australian dollar have affected our profitability.”

“These are still difficult times for the airline industry and as part of our strategy to operate more efficiently we need to deploy our aircraft to routes with the right level of demand to be financially viable.”

At this stage, we will continue to operate our full published schedule below.


London Heathrow	21:30	Hong Kong	17:40	VS200
Hong Kong	19:10	Sydney	07:30*	VS200

Sydney	15:45	Hong Kong	22:00	VS201
Hong Kong	23:30	London Heathrow	04:50**	VS201

* +2 days
** + 1 day

Copyright Photo: John Adlard/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A340-642 G-VSHY (msn 383) in the 1999 livery completes its final approach to the runway in Sydney.

Virgin Atlantic Airways:

Virgin Atlantic to cut back on the “Little Red” London Heathrow-Manchester service

Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) will cut one of four London Heathrow-Manchester “Little Red” Airbus A320 flights next year according to TheBusinessDesk.com. The airline explained the reduction was not due to decreased demand but rather having to give back one LHR slot to another unnamed carrier.

However The Independent reported last month the “Little Red” feeder flights were experiencing low sales.

Read the full report from The Independent: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Terry Wade/AirlinersGallery.com. The “Little Red” domestic flights are operated by Aer Lingus in full Virgin Atlantic colors. Airbus A320-214 EI-DEO (msn 2486) arrives at London (Heathrow).

Virgin Atlantic Airways:

Video: Virgin Atlantic ad:

Delta and Virgin Atlantic receive tentative DOT antitrust immunity for trans-Atlantic alliance

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) and Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) have received tentative U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) (Washington) antitrust immunity for its proposed trans-Atlantic alliance. As part of the deal, Delta is acquiring a 49 percent stake in Virgin Atlantic for $360 million from Singapore Airlines (Singapore).

All other parties will have 14 days to comment on the DOT decision, otherwise it will become final.

Read the full report from Reuters: CLICK HERE

Top Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Delta’s Boeing 757-232 N650DL (msn 24390) banks on the final turn on the River Approach into Washington (Reagan National).

Delta Air Lines:

Have you seen the “new look” AirlinersGallery.com?

Virgin Atlantic Airways:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A340-313 G-VAIR (msn 164) climbs away from Tokyo (Narita) painted in the updated 2010 livery which also includes airline titles on the fuselage underside.

Norwegian and Virgin Atlantic pilots to cooperate on the Boeing 787 training and long-haul expertise, will expand in Germany

Norwegian Long Haul (Norwegian Air Shuttle) (Oslo) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Virgin Atlantic Airways (London). The agreement enables Norwegian to tap into Virgin Atlantic’s expertise on long-haul operations, while Virgin Atlantic’s instructors will receive pilot training on board Norwegian’s brand new 787-8 Dreamliner. Norwegian’s first Dreamliner is due for delivery at the end of June.

The cooperation with Virgin Atlantic will enable Norwegian’s long-haul pilots to make use of the airline’s vast long-haul experience. Virgin Atlantic will make all its training material available to Norwegian.

Virgin Atlantic’s pilots to train on board Norwegian’s 787 Dreamliner

At the same time, Virgin Atlantic’s 787 instructors will conduct the final part of their pilot training on board Norwegian’s Dreamliners. Virgin Atlantic’s most experienced instructors will continue flying on board Norwegian’s aircraft until the airline receives its first 787 Dreamliner in September 2014, just over a year after Norwegian’s first Dreamliner delivery.

“Introducing a new aircraft type to an airline is an extensive affair. It is therefore important that we learn from each other,” says Director of Flight Operations Norwegian Long Haul, Torstein Hoås.

A great advantage to both parties

“Virgin Atlantic is a successful long-haul airline with almost 30 years of Trans-Atlantic experience. It will be very beneficial for us to receive this support. At the same time, we are looking forward to helping Virgin Atlantic introduce the 787 Dreamliner to its fleet. The cooperation will be a great advantage to both parties,” he continues.

Virgin Atlantic will be the launch customer in Europe of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, a slightly bigger version of the 787-8 Dreamliner. In the agreement signed on Friday, Virgin Atlantic states that it will train a number of Norwegian pilots on board its future Dreamliners.

“Virgin Atlantic are delighted to announce our training partnership with Norwegian. Our combined experience is being effectively utilised to ensure the safe and efficient introduction of the Boeing 787 aircraft to our fleet. We have much in common with Norwegian, having similar high quality training requirements, which has allowed our partnership to take shape,” says Captain Dave Kistruck, GM of Flight Operations for Virgin Atlantic.

In other news, Norwegian is expanding in the Germany-Spain market. The company has issued this statement:

Norwegian Air Shuttle continues its European expansion. The company has announced that it will launch new routes from Hamburg, Cologne and Munich to several Spanish destinations this autumn.

“The expansion in the German market is part of our future strategy to expand our presence outside of the Nordic region in order to meet the strong competition in the airline industry. We see that Germans frequently choose Norwegian when flying to Scandinavia and we believe that there is a demand for a quality airline that offers inexpensive fares between Germany and Spain. We are looking forward to welcoming passengers on board our modern and more eco-friendly aircraft,” said CEO of Norwegian Bjørn Kjos.

From the end of October, Norwegian launches brand new routes between Germany and Spain and will fly to Malaga, Alicante, Gran Canaria and Tenerife from Hamburg and Cologne. From Munich, Norwegian will offer flights to Malaga, Alicante and Tenerife.

Strong expansion

Norwegian is Europe’s third largest low-fare airline. As one of the fastest growing airlines in Europe, it is establishing itself outside of the Nordic region by opening bases in the UK and Spain. At the end of the month, Norwegian will, as the first European low-fare airline, commence long-haul flights to the US and Asia.

From Hamburg

Hamburg-Malaga (November 1), 3 weekly flights, from EUR 29,- one way
Hamburg-Alicante (November 1), 3 weekly flights, from EUR 29,- one way
Hamburg-Gran Canaria (October 27), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 49,- one way
Hamburg-Tenerife (October 27), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 49,- one way

From Cologne

Cologne-Malaga (October 31), 3 weekly flights, from EUR 29,- one way
Cologne-Alicante (November 1), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 29,- one way
Cologne-Gran Canaria (October 28), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 49,- one way
Cologne-Tenerife (October 28), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 49,- one way

From Munich

Munich-Malaga (November 1), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 39,- one way
Munich-Alicante (October 31), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 39,- one way
Munich-Tenerife (October 29), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 59,- one way

Norwegian:

Virgin Atlantic:

Virgin Atlantic prepares to launch “Little Red” on Sunday

Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) is preparing to launch its new UK feeder service called “Little Red” on Sunday, March 31. The first route will be London (Heathrow)-Manchester. London (Heathrow)-Edinburgh will follow on April 5 and finally London (Heathrow)-Aberdeen will be launched on April 9. The new service will be operated with four Aer Lingus A320s now being painted in the Virgin Atlantic brand.

Virgin Atlantic Careers website: http://careersuk.virgin-atlantic.com/

Copyright Photo: Malcolm Nason. Aer Lingus’ A320-214 EI-DEO (msn 2486) “Queen of the Cobbles” poses for the camera at Shannon on March 28 after the repainting was finished.