Virgin Atlantic Airways
Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. is owned by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group (51%) and Singapore Airlines (49%). It is a British airline and its hubs are London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport. Its focus city is Manchester Airport.
Virgin Atlantic started operations in 1984 between Gatwick and Newark Liberty using a leased aircraft, the Boeing 747-200. When the airline added another Boeing 747 in 1986, it added a scheduled route from Gatwick to Miami. It added more routes in subsequent years all emanating from Gatwick to New York-JFK, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Boston and Orlando.
Virgin Atlantic was the first airline to use the Airbus A340-600 in 2002. The airline serviced 3.8 million in 2003, 4.6 million in 2006 and 5.1 million passengers in 2007. It volunteered its Boeing 747s to be tested for biofuels in 2008 flying from Heathrow to Amsterdam with no passengers.
Domestic and International Destinations
Virgin Atlantic flies to 30 destinations in United Kingdom, North America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Asia and Australia. It has a fleet size of 38, a mix of Airbus and Boeing aircraft.
It has services to Nairobi in Kenya; Mauritius; Lagos in Nigeria; Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa; Hong Kong and Shanghai in China; Tokyo in Japan; Delhi and Mumbai in India; Dubai in United Arab Emirates; Glasgow, London and Manchester in United Kingdom; Los Angeles and San Francisco in California; Miami and Orlando in Florida; Chicago in Illinois; Boston in Massachusetts; Las Vegas in Nevada; Newark in New Jersey; New York City in New York; and Washington, D.C. in United States; Antigua in Antigua and Barbuda; Bridgetown in Barbados; Havana in Cuba; Grenada; Kingston and Montego Bay in Jamaica; San Juan in Puerto Rico; Vieux-Fort in St. Lucia; Tobago in Trinidad and Tobago; and Sydney in Australia.
Flying Club
Flying Club is the frequent flyer programme of Virgin Atlantic. It offers exclusive member benefits, special events and other privileges to its loyal customers. It has a three-tier membership: Red, Silver and Gold.
Members accrue miles and tier points whenever they fly with Virgin Atlantic or with any of its airline partners Air China, ANA, Gulf Air, Malaysia Airlines, South African Airways, Air Jamaica, bmi, Hawaiian Airlines, SAS, US Airways, Air New Zealand, Continental Airlines, Jet Airways, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Blue. You can also purchase goods and services from ground partners such as hotels, car hire, financial, Virgin Group and local partners. Miles don’t expire as long as members keep their account active by earning or spending miles at least once in three years.
Miles may be redeemed for flights, upgrades and awards from partners. Flying Club membership benefits include earning miles on all flights, earn extra mileage bonus on base flown miles, airport parking discount with purple parking, exclusive offers and promotions, a dedicated flying club helpline, use of upper class check-in, priority waitlisting, access and manage account information online, priority boarding and baggage handling, increased excess baggage allowance, birthday mileage bonus and airport standby.
Travel Classes and In-flight Service
Virgin Atlantic has three-class configuration, the Upper Class, Premium Economy and Economy cabins. Economy class has standard features such amenity kit, free meals and drinks. Its seats have maximum pitch of 81 cm and adjustable lumbar support. Premium Economy on the other hand has a wider seat, more legroom than economy, pre-flight drink, a dedicated cabin crew, power outlet for laptops, separate check-in area and priority boarding. Upper Class (Business Class) offers a fully flat bed measuring about 202 cm long and 84 cm wide, in-seat power outlet for laptops and iPods, access to a chauffeur, private security channel in some airport, clubhouse, in-flight bar and bigger meals than economy and premium economy classes.
There are ample entertainment amenities onboard. Movies, music, games, Seatback magazine and duty-free shopping are all available.