Virgin Atlantic announces its

Virgin Atlantic announces its return to 17 additional destinations

§   Airline set to return to 17 additional destinations across the network including Delhi, Mumbai Tel Aviv, San Francisco and Barbados planned from August 2020

§   Follows plans to restart first passenger flights from London Heathrow to New York JFK, Los Angeles and Hong Kong from 20^th and 21^st July 2020

§   Flights from Delhi and Mumbai to London Heathrow scheduled to start from 2^nd Sept 2020

§   Restart of routes dependent on travel restrictions lifting around the world

§   Additional measures put in place at the airport and onboard to ensure health and safety of our customers and our people

Virgin Atlantic has announced its plan to restart passenger flying to 17 additional destinations from August 2020.

Following the airline’s announcement that services from London Heathrow to Hong Kong, New York JFK, and Los Angeles are expected to resume from 20th and 21st July 2020, Virgin Atlantic has unveiled more detailed plans that will see passenger flying restart to many destinations across the airline’s network.

Flights from Delhi and Mumbai to London Heathrow start on the 2nd Sept 2020 and will provide connections to a range of US destinations.

 

Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer, Virgin Atlantic commented: “As countries around the world begin to relax travel restrictions, we look forward to welcoming our customers back onboard and flying them safely to many destinations across our network. From 20^th July we will resume services to New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong then from 1^st August onwards, we will resume passenger flying to 17 additional destinations around the world including Delhi, Mumbai and Tel Aviv.”

“However, we are monitoring external conditions extremely closely, in particular the travel restrictions many countries have in place including the 14 day quarantine policy for travellers entering the UK. We know that as the Covid-19 crisis subsides, air travel will be a vital enabler of the UK’s economic recovery. Therefore, we are calling for UK Government to continually review its quarantine measures and instead look at a multi-layered approach of carefully targeted public health and screening measures, including air bridges, which will support a successful and safe restart of international air travel for passengers and businesses.”

Virgin Atlantic planned return to flying from London Heathrow Terminal 2* (subject to change and dependent on travel restrictions)

Planned restart date	Routes
21st July 2020	Hong Kong, New York JFK, Los Angeles - London Heathrow
1st August 2020	Barbados – London Heathrow
4th August 2020	San Francisco - London Heathrow
5th August 2020	Shanghai – London Heathrow
10th August 2020	Tel Aviv - London Heathrow
18th August 2020	Miami - London Heathrow
24th August 2020	Lagos - London Heathrow
25th August 2020	Atlanta - London Heathrow
1st September 2020	Boston, Washington, Seattle, Las Vegas - London Heathrow
2nd September 2020	Mumbai, Delhi - London Heathrow
15th September 2020	Johannesburg – London Heathrow
1st October 2020	Antigua - London Heathrow
2nd October 2020	Montego Bay, Grenada (via Antigua) - London Heathrow
4th October 2020	Tobago (via Antigua) - London Heathrow

 

*Virgin Atlantic will operate temporarily from Terminal 2 at Heathrow, due to HAL’s terminal consolidation. Virgin Atlantic will return to its much-loved home at London Heathrow Terminal 3 when demand at Heathrow grows, enabling Terminal 3 to reopen

Virgin Atlantic has taken the difficult decision to cancel some services for the remainder of the summer 2020 season and seasonal services from Glasgow and Belfast to Orlando will now resume for selected dates in summer 2021.  We will continue to monitor our network on an ongoing basis and expect further flights from London Heathrow and Manchester to resume in September and October 2020.

Your Health & Wellbeing

To ensure the health and safety of our customers and our people, Virgin Atlantic is implementing additional measures to offer peace of mind in the airport and when taking to the skies**. These include enhanced and thorough cleaning practices at check in, boarding gates and onboard including the use of electrostatic spraying of high-grade disinfectant onboard in all our cabins and lavatories, ensuring no surface is left untouched.  

Safe distancing will also be adhered to wherever possible, particularly at check-in and boarding and where not possible, masks will be required. We will provide a personal Health Pack for the wellbeing and comfort of all our customers, which will contain medical grade face masks as a requirement to be worn onboard, surface wipes and hand gel. In the short term, to minimise contact, we will also be offering a simplified hot food service in Economy and Premium Economy, enclosed from preparation in a Covid-safe, monitored environment directly to our customers’ seats. Upper Class customers will receive a choice of hot meals and desserts, including cheese & biscuits, which will be delivered to their seat on a tray. We will also be offering a temporary limited alcohol offering in all cabins.

 

Transporting Essential Cargo

In addition to the restart of passenger flying, Virgin Atlantic continues to operate cargo-only flights keeping global supply chains running and transporting essential supplies around the world. Throughout June, the airline plans to operate more than 600 cargo-only services, serving destinations including Mumbai, Delhi, Brussels, Johannesburg, Lagos and Miami.

The airline also looks forward to continuing to partner with the Department for Health and the NHS, working with them on 17 cargo charters per week from Shanghai and Beijing throughout June and July, bringing in the vital medical supplies that the teams here in the UK urgently need to care for patients. To date the airline has carried over 44 million items of PPE from China to the UK.

For more information, please visit www.virginatlantic.com. 

Virgin Atlantic hosted “Business is an Adventure

Virgin Atlantic hosted “Business is an Adventure” with Sir Richard Branson, to celebrate the launch of its new daily service between Mumbai and London

Virgin Atlantic hosted the event “Business Is an Adventure” to mark its expansion in India, with the start of a new connection between Mumbai and London and the addition of its second daily flight between Delhi and London from 29 March 2020. This expansion will make India Virgin Atlantic’s third largest market after the UK & US.  The event saw the presence of prominent business personalities including the founder of Virgin Atlantic, Sir Richard Branson.

Virgin Atlantic also announced their introduction of their new Indian flying icon called Aria which will feature on the side of their aircraft from 2020. Aria is the name of Sir Richard’s great, great, grandfather’s wife who was from India.  This forms part of a series that have been created to showcase the diverse range of men and women that represent modern Britain.  Virgin Atlantic’s use of the Flying Lady was inspired by figureheads that have decorated ships since the 16th century and the original version was inspired by the pin up girls made famous by Alberto Vargas in the 1930’2 and 40’s  and this move represents the changing face of one of Britain’s most loved brands.

The event kickstarted with a panel discussion on ‘Business is an Adventure’ where eminent business leaders including Dhruv Shringi – CEO, Yatra Online, Devita Saraf - Founder & CEO, VU Technologies, Falguni Nayar - Founder, Nykaa and Ronnie Screwvala - Co-Founder & Chairman, upGrad, where they highlighted the adventures they have had in business over the years which have helped them get to where they are today.

The discussion was followed by a lively fireside chat on ‘Learning from failure’ between Sir Richard Branson and Anand Mahindra. The session proved to be insightful with anecdotes from their entrepreneurial expeditions. The session culminated in some school children asking Sir Richard Branson and Anand Mahindra their burning questions.

Sir Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Atlantic, said, “India holds a very special place in our hearts and we are excited to be celebrating 20 years of flying here in 2020.  We thought that the best way to celebrate this milestone would be by adding more choice of routes for our customers to fly directly between Mumbai & Delhi to London.  We are committed to this market and will continue to invest and grow our operations at the same time as offering an unrivalled  service for those choosing to fly with us to the UK and onto the US.’’

With the additional daily flight to Delhi and the newly launched Mumbai service, Virgin Atlantic will offer more choice to India than ever before. Together with Delta Air Lines, Virgin Atlantic will offer seamless connections between Delhi and New York JFK, Boston, Detroit and Atlanta via Heathrow.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC PARTNERS WITH BARBIE TO INSPIRE YOUNGER GIRLS TO EXPLORE CAREERS

VIRGIN ATLANTIC PARTNERS WITH BARBIE TO INSPIRE YOUNGER GIRLS TO EXPLORE CAREERS IN STEM AND AVIATION

• Project celebrates two iconic brands and aims to show younger girls the scope of careers at Virgin Atlantic
• Barbie has created bespoke one-of-a-kind dolls, which represent three Virgin Atlantic careers in STEM and aviation – pilot, cabin crew and engineer
• Partnership includes primary school visits from real-life female pilots and engineers

 Virgin Atlantic announced that it has teamed up with Barbie to show girls a variety of careers in STEM and aviation and remind them they can be anything. Virgin and Barbie created three one-of-a-kind dolls to celebrate the partnership; pilot, engineer and cabin crew. Current statistics from the Women’s Engineering Society indicate that only 12% of the UK engineering workforce is female and similar statistics show that only 4.3% of UK pilots are women, with the aviation sector in particular dominated by men.

Originally created to show girls that they have choices, Barbie has had over 200 careers throughout her history, and in the brand’s 60^th year three Virgin Atlantic careers join the ranks to inspire girls to believe anything is possible.

Research has identified that starting at age five, many girls begin to develop limiting self-beliefs and doubt their full potential – this is called the Dream Gap. To champion change, Barbie launched the Dream Gap Project, an on-going initiative with the goal of levelling the playing field for girls globally. Barbie knows that showing girls more role models and telling their stories This partnership is the next step in the brand’s commitment to show girls more role models and tell their stories to help close the Dream Gap.

The partnership between Virgin Atlantic and Barbie marks the start of a wider initiative at the airline to encourage more women to pursue STEM and aviation careers.  Working with its charity partner, WE, the Passport for Change programme aims to inspire young people to engage with STEM subjects and consider a future in aviation. Virgin Atlantic and Barbie’s dual mission to inspire girls through more careers include its annual Future Flyer open day at the airline’s HQ, leveraging female engineers and pilots to show girls real role models, through school visits and trips to the airline’s engineering hangars, that spotlight STEM careers using Barbie as an educational tool, inspiring on-board Barbie content, and a social campaign; #SeeHerFly.

Virgin Atlantic, in an effort to have more female representation and highlight its career opportunities for women, recruited the world’s number #1 fashion doll to create one-of-a-kind dolls, which introduce different careers to a younger generation of girls.

The one-of-a-kind dolls were designed in the likeness of real Virgin Atlantic uniforms and show different skin tones and body types, reflecting the diversity seen in the Barbie line. The pilot doll has articulated ankles with flat shoes and wears a pilot’s uniform complete with wings and badge. The engineer doll wears flat safety boots, an access lanyard and noise-cancelling headphones. The cabin crew doll pays homage to the iconic red Virgin Atlantic Vivienne Westwood uniform.

While these Virgin Atlantic dolls are one-of-a-kind, young fans can imagine themselves in-flight with the Barbie Pilot doll as well as play out different roles in other fields with other Barbie career dolls available. Later in the year, Pilot and Crew dolls will be sold on-board and in key retail partners to further celebrate the partnership.

Nikki Humphrey, SVP People at Virgin Atlantic, commented;

“We know that women are currently underrepresented across a number of careers within aviation.  We also know we can’t change this position overnight.  Therefore, it’s imperative we play the long-game, highlighting to primary aged children that any job role is open and our partnership with Barbie marks another milestone in our commitment to this.  It’s astounding that girls start believing they can’t follow a certain career path from as young as five and it’s our ambition to help close the dream gap.   By working with Barbie, it allows us to speak directly to our future generation of aviation professionals, whether they aspire to be cabin crew, engineers or pilots.”

Phil Maher, EVP Operations at Virgin Atlantic, commented;

“It’s essential that Virgin Atlantic plays a pivotal role in encouraging women to succeed in STEM careers.  It’s evident that for those women who do become pilots and engineers, career satisfaction is exceptionally high, and it’s no surprise that job satisfaction is exceptionally high.  It’s essential we showcase to girls of all ages just how fulfilling a career in our industry can be and our partnership with Barbie is just one of the steps we’re undertaking to achieve this.”

Dawn Childs, President of the Women’s Engineering Society, commented;

“The fact that so many young girls narrow their career prospects from an early age by believing that some roles and jobs simply are not for them is a tragedy. This is not just a tragedy for them but it denies businesses 50% of the potential future talent pool at a time when the engineering skills gap is widening and unsustainable. This fabulous initiative will help to normalise seeing women in these vital roles and help them to aim high in their future career aspirations.”

Recently, the airline was a founding member of Women in Aviation and Aerospace in 2018 as well as a signatory of the Women in Hospitality, Travel and Leisure charter.  Virgin Atlantic has also developed a Springboard Network which aims to help women in junior roles develop clear career pathways to become senior leaders. 

For anybody looking to take the next step in their aviation career, Virgin Atlantic offers both cabin crew and engineering apprenticeships as well as a pilot cadet scheme.  More information can be found at www.virginatlantic.com/careers

Red Velvet takes to the skies on its first commercial service to New York City

Virgin Atlantic’s first Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, G-VLUX, Red Velvet takes to the skies tomorrow (10^th September) for the very first time, flying customers from London Heathrow to New York JFK on the VS153 and the VS138 on the return. With a totally redesigned Upper Class cabin complete with Loft area as well as tailcam and new in-seat ordering feature, this new aircraft is revolutionizing travel. Read on to find out what’s new on Virgin Atlantic’s A350-1000 fleet.

What’s new on the A350-1000

• Five new “Flying Icons” will adorn the fuselage of the brand new A350-1000 fleet. The high flyers are a diverse range of men and women representing modern Britain with Zadie on board G-VLUX (Red Velvet), G-VPOP (Mamma Mia) and G-VJAM (Queen of Hearts) followed by Oscar on G-VPRD (Rain Bow).  
• A first for Virgin Atlantic - our new tailcam offers every customer the best view of outside. Customers will be able see their surroundings as if they were sitting on the tail of our fabulous A350. Two views are available - tail cam and front facing from the underside of the aircraft.
  

• Our innovative new feature in Upper Class allows our customers to order what they want, when they want it from the comfort of their Upper Class seat. Customers can chose their meals and drinks on their IFE screen and this will be sent to the crew who will deliver the order to your seat! No more waiting for meal time!

• The Loft is a unique space for Upper Class customers, and the largest social space across any of Virgin Atlantic’s fleet. It’s a place to gather, chat, grab a drink or dine with friends. As well as enjoying luxe comfort and high end finishes, customers can settle in with Bluetooth headphones and connect to the 32 inch screen – catch a show, or watch the live tailcam
• The redesigned Upper Class suite is the perfect retreat at 30,000 feet. Every seat faces towards the window and boasts enhanced privacy, plenty of space and storage, adjustable mood lighting, an 18.5 inch screen – all with Virgin Atlantic style.  features luxurious claret leather with intricate, signature Virgin woven coral stitching
• A redesigned Premium cabin with rich, custom leather seats and high end finishes. Tailored for Virgin Atlantic the Premium seat features luxurious Claret leather seat with intricate stitch detailing, a pressed black wool cocktail tray and meal table, and an Oxblood red upper literature pocket interior

• Six way adjustable headrests ensure comfort on Virgin Atlantic’s newest Economy seats which are designed with bespoke woven fabrics inspired by fashion houses

• Working with Inmarsat and T-Mobile, Virgin Atlantic is offering all customers award-winning GX KA Band wifi connectivity onboard its new A350 aircraft. The cost of wifi is £20.99 for the duration of the flight; however prices start from £2.99 for messaging. Free wifi until 9^th October - LivefromVIrgin

• We’re taking inflight entertainment to new levels with the Zodiac Rave System from Zodiac Inflight Innovations (Zii) and our largest ever inflight screens at  18.5” in Upper, 13.3 inches in Premium and 11.6 inches in Economy. Customers will be able to choose from over 100 movies, 300 hours of TV shows, over 350 albums and podcasts and over 45 hours of kids content. Want to watch a movie but still see where you are on the map? Complementing our touchscreen IFE, customers can now pair their smart device to the IFE to control their experience onboard and provide second screen viewing.

Virgin Atlantic has ordered a total of 12 Airbus A350-1000, with them all scheduled to join the fleet by 2021 in an order worth an estimated $4.4 billion (list price.) The first four A350s, Mamma Mia, Red Velvet, Rain Bow and Queen of Hearts, will join the airline’s fleet by the end of 2019 and all four aircraft will initially fly between London Heathrow and New York JFK.  Los Angeles will be the second Virgin Atlantic destination to receive the airline’s new A350, from next year.

All of the airline’s initial A350 deliveries will be based at London Heathrow.  The final five planes will offer a leisure configuration and will operate routes to Florida and the Caribbean from London Gatwick and Manchester Airport.   These deliveries will take place in 2021 as the airline beings to retire its 747 fleet.

Say hello to the new faces of Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic is saying farewell to its Flying Lady and welcoming five new “Flying Icons” to adorn its brand new A350-1000 fleet. The high flyers are a diverse range of men and women representing modern Britain, rolled out on four brand new A350-1000 aircraft this year, followed by a further eight by 2021.

Virgin Atlantic’s use of the Flying Lady was inspired by figureheads that have decorated ships since the 16th century. The artwork for it was based on the pin up girls made famous by Alberto Vargas [in the 1930s and 1940s].

This move represents the changing face of one of Britain’s most loved brands. Virgin Atlantic has made a pledge to tackle its gender pay gap and increase diversity and inclusion across the business, and this is mirrored in the look and feel of the brand. The airline is aiming to have a 50:50 gender balance in leadership roles, as well as at least 12% black, Asian and minority ethnic group (BAME) representation across the company, by 2022.

The airline was a founding member of Women in Aviation and Aerospace in 2018 as well as a signatory of the Women in Hospitality, Travel and Leisure charter (of which Nikki Humphrey, SVP of People sits on the board). Virgin Atlantic has also ensured greater diversity with their engineering apprenticeship and pilot cadet schemes and has developed a Springboard Network which aims to help women in junior roles develop clear career pathways to become senior leaders.

With its latest brand campaign, Virgin Atlantic became the first company to show a same sex couple in its ad imagery in India, and will be the first airline to have male figureheads on its aircraft. In a further move to increase equality, the airline recently announced it has changed its uniform and styling policy so that women could choose whether they would like trousers or a skirt and removed requirements to wear makeup.

Nikki Humphrey, SVP of People at Virgin Atlantic commented:

“The saying goes ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’ and that has never been truer than the aviation industry’s glamourous image in the past. We have been working for a number of years to tackle our gender pay gap, create an inclusive workplace and increase the diversity of our workforce, through the development of our Springboard scheme for women, as well as the launch of engineering apprenticeships. By introducing our new Flying Icons I hope it encourages people from all backgrounds to feel at home flying with us, but also working with us.”

Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus confirm offer for Flybe

Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus confirm offer for Flybe – delivering enhanced connectivity to UK regions and Ireland under the Virgin Atlantic brand

The Boards of Flybe and Connect Airways, a company bringing together Virgin Atlantic Limited, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital, are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer for Flybe. Following which Connect Airways will acquire the entire issued, and to be issued, share capital of Flybe. Stobart Group will contribute Stobart Air and Propius, Stobart’s aircraft leasing business into Connect Airways.

Concurrently with announcing the Acquisition, Cyrus, Stobart Group and Virgin Atlantic have committed to make available a £20 million bridge loan facility to support Flybe's ongoing working capital and operational requirements.

In addition, following completion of the Acquisition, Cyrus, Stobart Group and Virgin Atlantic are intending to provide up to £80 million of further funding to the Combined Group to invest in its business and support its growth, as well as a contribution of Stobart Air.

Flybe will continue to serve customers and communities across the UK and Ireland.  In due course Flybe will be rebranded to Virgin Atlantic.

The Combined Group will offer significant benefits for customers:

• Deliver more choice to customers by linking UK regions and Ireland to Virgin Atlantic’s extensive long-haul network through improved connectivity at Manchester Airport and London Heathrow

• Provide a strong foundation to secure the long-term future of Flybe, its customers and its people by leveraging the combined commercial, operational and functional expertise and scale of Virgin Atlantic and Stobart Group

• Utilise the strength of the Virgin Atlantic brand, and the offer of an enhanced customer experience in keeping with Virgin Atlantic’s heritage

• Provide the Combined Group with an enhanced presence at Manchester Airport , London Heathrow Airport, with the potential to grow further in London Southend Airport

The Combined Group intends for Flybe to continue as an independent operating carrier with a separate UK Air Operator Certificate (AOC) under the Virgin Atlantic brand. Stobart Air is intended to continue under a separate Irish AOC.

The Combined Group will operate independently to Virgin Atlantic under one management team, owned 40% by Cyrus Capital Partners, 30% by Stobart Aviation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stobart Group, and 30% by Virgin Atlantic Limited, the holding company of Virgin Atlantic Airways and Virgin Holidays.

Christine Ourmieres-Widener, Flybe’s CEO said:

“Flybe plays a vital role in the UK’s transport infrastructure with a UK regional network which uniquely positions it to benefit from growing demands from long haul carriers for passenger feeder traffic.  We have successfully implemented a clear strategy in recent years focused on tighter fleet management, improving revenue per seat and increasing load factors.  The pursuit of operational excellence has reduced maintenance times and increased efficiencies and customer satisfaction.

“However, the industry is suffering from higher fuel costs, currency fluctuations and significant uncertainties presented by Brexit.  We have been affected by all of these factors which has put pressure on short-term financial performance.  At the same time, Flybe suffered from a number of legacy issues that are being addressed but are still adversely affecting cashflows.

“By combining to form a larger, stronger, group, we will be better placed to withstand these pressures.  We aim to provide an even better service to our customers and secure the future for our people.”

Shai Weiss, CEO of Virgin Atlantic said:

“The Virgin Atlantic brand is built on the foundation of putting customers at the heart of everything we do, providing them with the choice they deserve and a travel experience they love.   All possible because of our amazing people.

“We are pleased to have this opportunity to partner with Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital to bring Virgin Atlantic service excellence to Flybe’s customers. Together, we can provide greater connectivity to our extensive long haul network and that of our joint venture partners Delta Air Lines, at Manchester Airport and London Heathrow. In the near future, this will only increase, through our expanded joint venture partnership with Air France-KLM.”

Warwick Brady, CEO of Stobart Group said:

“The Board of Stobart Group believes that bringing Stobart Air together with Flybe and partnering with Virgin Atlantic and Cyrus Capital is the best way for us to play an active role in regional airline consolidation.

“The combined entity will be a powerful combination with sufficient scale to compete effectively in the UK and European airline markets.  It will allow us to continue to work with Flybe and provides an excellent opportunity to continue to grow passenger numbers at London Southend Airport.”

Lucien Farrell, Partner of Cyrus said:

"We are delighted to be working once again with the Virgin Group following our successful partnership in the launch and eventual sale of Virgin America to Alaska Airlines.  We believe Flybe’s strong market position and high quality management together with Virgin Atlantic’s dedication to the best customer experience and Stobart Group’s expertise in regional flying will produce a world-class airline."