Virgin Atlantic , though younger than many of its European rivals, is an iconic airline. Founded by tycoon Richard Branson, the airline was created to bring more competition to the London market, specifically on long-haul flights. The airline operates a fleet of widebody Airbus and Boeing jets across its network, and its global route map stretches as far as Asia and North America from London.

Like all airlines, Virgin Atlantic has to continuously modernize its fleet to stay competitive. Because of this, it is becoming increasingly reliant on next-generation airliners from both Airbus and Boeing . The carrier currently operates fuel-efficient airliners like the Airbus A330neo, Airbus A350-1000 , and Boeing 787 . While its fleet is smaller than European rivals like British Airways or Lufthansa, the airline still uses these aircraft to operate a robust schedule from its London Heathrow Airport hub.

Virgin Atlantic's fleet only consists of widebody aircraft

With a focus on global flying, it makes sense that Virgin Atlantic flies only widebody aircraft. These aircraft are known for higher capacities and longer ranges, making them a good fit for the airline as it expands its footprint across the world. The airline orders its fleet from both Airbus and Boeing, but the majority of its fleet is composed of Airbus aircraft. However, its most-flown aircraft variant is the Boeing 787-9 . The airline's current fleet breakdown is as follows:

While Virgin Atlantic's fleet is not very diverse compared to other airlines, in the past, it has operated a variety of other long-haul and even short-haul aircraft. Perhaps most famously, the airline used to fly 13 examples of the Boeing 747-400, and before that, 11 747-200Bs and 1 747-100. Additionally, the London-based carrier has also deployed 29 Airbus A340s throughout its history, 10 of which were the smaller -300 variant and 19 of which were the larger -600 model.

While the A330 is still an important part of the fleet (and Virgin's second most-used aircraft type), Virgin Atlantic no longer flies the A330-200. In the past, the airline operated a total of 4 of the models, but the airframes were taken out of service and have since been scrapped.

The 787-9 Dreamliner is currently Virgin's most utilized aircraft model. The airline flies its 787s across the world, and to several key business markets. Despite its dependence on long-haul jets, in the past, the airline has tried to make short-haul flying work with A320 family jets.

Virgin experimented with narrowbody aircraft in the past

Virgin Atlantic lacks a short-haul network to feed its long-haul flights. This means the carrier likely has to appeal to local London travelers more than connecting passengers from across Europe. The airline does not have a single narrowbody aircraft currently in operation, according to ch-aviation, though it used to operate a very small fleet of Airbus A320 family aircraft.

In the past, Virgin Atlantic flew a small fleet of A320-200 and A321-200 aircraft. Virgin received its first A320 in February 1995, and another one a few months later in April. However, the fleet was short-lived, and both aircraft were retired from service before the end of the year. Following its short-haul experiment, Virgin took a break from operating narrowbody aircraft, until 2003, when it acquired an A320 yet again. In the next decade, it acquired four others.

In 2013, the airline launched Little Red, which was a feeder service that operated domestic flights to Virgin's Heathrow hub from destinations across the United Kingdom. The airline wet leased aircraft from Aer Lingus to operate the service, and the company's management expressed enthusiasm for the new concept. However, Little Red was ultimately deemed a failure, and ended just two years after its launch.

Part of Little Red's failure, and why Virgin Atlantic has to focus on long-haul flights exclusively, has to do with slot restrictions at London Heathrow Airport. The airport is notoriously busy, so to regulate traffic, the government requires any airline that serves Heathrow to have a slot (a pair of landing and take-off rights). This helps alleviate congestion by controlling how many flights can arrive or depart from the airport on a given day.

The challenge for Virgin Atlantic is that it shares its hub with British Airways, which is much larger and older. The British Airways fleet surpasses 280 aircraft, according to Routes Online, which is over six times as many aircraft as Virgin. Because of its size and "first mover advantage," British Airways has significantly more slots than Virgin, making it hard for the airline to compete with Britain's flag carrier.

Because of these restrictions, Virgin Atlantic needs to maximize the number of passengers it flies with each flight. It simply does not make sense to use its slots to fly small, narrowbody aircraft to London Heathrow when it could operate flights with double the number of passengers.

This challenge is complex, but as one remedy, Virgin focuses on widebody, long-haul flying. Aircraft like the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner make this possible, with a mid-sized capacity but impressive range. The Dreamliner flies to a variety of global destinations from Heathrow.

Virgin Atlantic's busiest Boeing 787 routes

Using data from Cirium, an aviation data analytics provider, routes to the United States are very popular for the 787 Dreamliner. Among the markets with the most 787 flights are Los Angeles International Airport , Harry Reid International Airport , and Miami International Airport . However, the aircraft is deployed in other markets across the world. Virgin Atlantic's busiest 787 routes from London Heathrow for March 2025 are as follows:

It is important to note that this display only describes outbound frequencies, and each flight returns to London Heathrow. As seen on the table, the United States is a popular destination for the Dreamliner. The airline's services to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York JFK likely cater to business travelers originating in or traveling to the United States.

Meanwhile, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is an important hub for Delta Air Lines . Virgin Atlantic is a close partner of Delta, as both carriers are a part of SkyTeam Alliance . As a result, the carriers codeshare. Virgin passengers can travel on to other destinations in the Delta network, including Asian destinations. Seattle is Delta's primary Asian gateway, which bolsters connectivity for both airlines in the Emerald City.

The longest flight on this list is to Cape Town, South Africa, a route that stretches almost 6,000 miles. In addition to Cape Town, Virgin flies its 787 Dreamliner to Johannesburg, which is also among the longest routes on this list. Interestingly, the carrier also flies its 787s to Montego Bay, Jamaica, a smaller market than most of the other destinations on this list. Known for its tropical weather and beaches, Virgin is likely to appeal to leisure travelers on this route.

In terms of frequency, many of the markets on this list will operate on a daily basis in March 2025. However, Los Angeles will be flown significantly more than this, with 40 flights on the 787 in March. Meanwhile, many markets are flown on a less than daily frequency with the Boeing 787-9. Some of these markets, like New York, will likely see additional services operated by other aircraft types in conjunction with the 787.

Inside Virgin's 787

According to Virgin Atlantic, the airline's 787-9 Dreamliners seat 264 passengers in a three-class layout. The configuration is as follows, with the vast majority of the aircraft's seats being standard economy:

• 31 Upper Class seats
• 35 Premium seats
• 198 economy seats
   

The 787 is not the largest aircraft in terms of capacity in the Virgin fleet. Its Airbus A350-1000, the largest aircraft in its fleet, seats 335 passengers. Still, the 787 Dreamliner clearly plays an important role in the airline's fleet, and will continue to connect Virgin passengers across the world with its London hub.