Born to be different

Forty years ago, a £99 ticket from London to Newark on a second hand 747 marked the beginnings of Virgin Atlantic.  21 million glasses of champagne, 7,000 cabin crew and five uniform designs later, Virgin Atlantic is celebrating its Ruby Anniversary.

Sir Richard Branson founded Virgin Atlantic with a vision to shake up the aviation industry by offering something unique and exciting to challenge the status quo that existed.

No Virgin without the Atlantic

From its very first flight from Gatwick to Newark, Virgin Atlantic’s origins have been rooted in North America.  It’s celebrating the launch of its 15th service to the USA, as it commences flights between Manchester and Las Vegas. The new service complements the airline’s existing daily flying to Las Vegas from London Heathrow, as the airline expands its network and supports customer demand for premium leisure travel from Manchester and the northwest.

Virgin Atlantic is also delighted to announce its return to Canada.  The airline’s first route to the country in more than a decade will commence next summer, as it launches direct flights between London Heathrow and Toronto Pearson International Airport, marking the airline’s expansion in North America and into Canada’s financial hub.  The daily service will launch on 30 March, 2025 with fares starting from £490 per person.

Flights will operate a mix of aircraft on the route including the A330-900neo, the latest addition to its young fleet. Featuring the airline’s Retreat Suite, iconic onboard social space, wireless charging, and stylish design touches.  The new service is set to connect two global financial hubs and provides optimal connectivity to for Virgin Atlantic’s Indian customers via London, from newly launched destination Bengaluru, alongside Mumbai and Delhi, which both operate twice daily.

In addition, Virgin Atlantic is announcing its expanded codeshare partnership with Canadian carrier WestJet, which is slated for October this year. The partnership will allow Canadian customers to travel seamlessly throughout the region, including flights from Ottawa and Winnipeg. Benefits for both airlines’ frequent flyers are expected to follow in 2025.

The red thread sets us apart

For 40 years, Virgin Atlantic has been innovating for customers, offering a different experience delivered by its amazing people, driving competition and choice. From the introduction of onboard bars, creating the concept of the Premium cabin, pioneering the world’s flight seat back TVs and even setting up charity donations with loose foreign currency – a scheme that’s since been adopted globally.

More recently, Virgin Atlantic has underpinned its belief that ‘everyone can take on the world’ with industry leading changes for its people, who, along with its customers, are encouraged to live by the ‘Be Yourself’ mantra.  It was first airline to scrap make up requirements for cabin crew, allow visible tattoos and let its people decide which version of the iconic Vivienne Westwood uniform best represents them.  

Business as a Force for Good

The airline has taken a leadership position on decarbonising aviation for more than 15 years, taking early action to optimise the efficiency of its fleet and it is committed to achieving net zero by 2050. It operated the historic Flight100, the first transatlantic flight on 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel last November. The flight marked the culmination of a year of radical collaboration with a consortium of partners, to demonstrate the capability of SAF as a safe drop-in replacement for fossil derived jet fuel, compatible with today’s engines, airframes and fuel infrastructure. Results, which are now available as open source, demonstrate that the use of 100% SAF saved the lifecycle equivalent of 64% of the emissions of a standard London Heathrow to New York JFK flight. It also proves that SAF has potential benefits beyond a reduction in lifecycle CO2, including a 40% reduction in particulates.

The next forty

The USA and Caribbean remains Virgin Atlantic heartland, and it’s expanding into new territories too. From 2025, it will offer over a million seats to India for the first time, a 350% capacity growth since 2019. Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic Holidays has set ambitious targets to achieve its vision of becoming the most loved travel company with its premium holiday proposition. It aims to reclaim its number one spot in Florida, focusing on Orlando, Tampa and Miami by partnering with Disney and Universal and introducing multi-centre holidays. It’s set on becoming the preferred choice for customers travelling to premium sun destinations focusing on the Caribbean, Maldives and Dubai. Online, it will offer an enhanced experience for customers and increase online bookings for city breaks to destinations such as Las Vegas and New York City.

This year, Virgin Atlantic has received three new state of the art aircraft, two Airbus A350s, from a total of 13 and one Airbus 330neo, from an order of up to 16, with the most recent, Ruby Rebel (G-VSRB), named in homage to Sir Richard Branson and his rebellious spirit.  A further three Airbus A330neo’s will join later this year.