The Virgin Atlantic story starts with the Boeing 747. Virgin Atlantic had also ordered six Airbus A380-800 aircraft, with options on a further six, delivery initially due in 2006. An exception is Spirit of Sir Freddie. The A330-300 joined the Virgin Atlantic family in April 2011. [20][21], During the 1990s, Virgin Atlantic jets were painted with "No Way BA/AA" as a declaration of its opposition to the attempted merger between British Airways and American Airlines. Virgin Atlantic has had to temporarily park some of its 787s while they wait for attention. [42] Whilst furloughed many staff volunteered with the NHS answering 999 calls and at NHS Trusts in London and the South East.
Since then, four further aircraft have been delivered. Malaysia’s Firefly Eyes Boeing 737-800s As It Takes Jets In 2021, Remembering WOW Air: How Cheap Transatlantic Fares Ended In Huge Losses, Singapore And Hong Kong Travel Bubble – What You Need To Know. To see details about aircraft, click on to the number in the appropriate column in the table below.

[121], In March 2018, Airbus announced the cancellation of Virgin Atlantic's order for six Airbus A380-800s which it had placed back in 2001 and deferred several times since. Virgin Atlantic is considered to have a strong safety reputation. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information including a full list of cookies used. In turn, Hellary was in contact with several out-of-colleagues from the collapse of Laker Airways; as such, the pair decided to refine their ambitions. They are accessible for passengers travelling in Upper Class and Flying Club Gold tier members. However, this project was short-lived. Eight aircraft were planned to come directly from Airbus, six from Air Lease Corporation, and the airline has options on a further six aircraft. Please refer to the current fleet list to see each aircraft's individual age.

© Erik FrikkeVirgin Atlantic G-VROCSan Francisco, San Francisco International

returned to the lessor / destroyed / stored).

Flightradar24 is a global flight tracking service that provides you with real-time information about thousands of aircraft around the world. British Midland International provided domestic and European feeder traffic into Heathrow Airport in partnership with Virgin[78] until it was purchased by British Airways' parent company International Airlines Group in 2011. For the past 36 years, the Queen of the Skies has played a role in the airline’s fleet. Fields met British entrepreneur Richard Branson at a party in London during which he proposed a business partnership. Following the collapse of Laker Airways in 1982, Field and Hellary decided to establish a new company, initially named British Atlantic Airways, as a successor. [58], On 11 December 2012, Delta Air Lines confirmed the purchase of Singapore Airlines' 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic for £224 million, with plans to develop a transatlantic joint venture.



[55], In November 2010 it was reported that Virgin Atlantic had appointed Deutsche Bank to begin a strategic review of options for the airline following the tie-up between British Airways and American Airlines. Baggage.

[28] The OFT cleared both airlines in December 2012, concluding there were "no grounds for action".[29].

[52] The company operates several offices and call centres around the United Kingdom, including a large office in Swansea, Wales, which is a base for reservations, sales, baggage claims and tracing, 'live chat' web support and a customer relations department. [11], Virgin Atlantic filed for Chapter 15 Bankruptcy Protection in New York on 4 August 2020 as part of a £1.2 billion private refinancing package.[12][13].

", "Virgin Atlantic, British airways to do battle over Las Vegas", "Virgin boss caught up in BA price-fixing case", "Virgin Atlantic accused of fixing Hong Kong flight prices", "OFT accuses Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific of price-fixing", "Virgin Atlantic, Cathay Pacific Cleared in U.K. Price-Fix Probe", "Doubts over future of Virgin Atlantic's Little Red airline", "British airline calls time on short-haul service after just 18 months in operation", "Virgin needed Delta to fly to the rescue, Branson admits", "Virgin Atlantic airline to cut 500 jobs", "Strengthening of Transatlantic Partnerships", "Air France-KLM is buying 31% of Virgin Atlantic. Find out about Change is in the Air; our commitment to reducing our environmental footprint and our community projects and investments. It was thought these aircraft would be on initial 12-month leases, to allow Virgin to assess their viability in the fleet, with the possibility of extending the leases further.

IATA: VS ICAO: VIR

Please note that multiple active weather layers may increase page load time and decrease page performance. Official US/Canada radar data covering North America and certain oceanic regions around North America. The winning bid was for £10,000, and the winner named the aircraft 'Emmeline Heaney' after his newborn daughter.
Worldwide Flight Information Region and Upper Information Region boundaries overlayed on map. [19], In the year to October 1993, Virgin Atlantic declared a loss of £9.3m. In its place, Hellary and Fields commenced efforts to secure a licence to operate a route Gatwick Airport, London and John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City.

On today fleet, Virgin Atlantic operates 8 jumbo jet aircraft “Queen of The Skies” Boeing 747-400. Virgin Atlantic also used to operate some of the smaller Airbus aircraft when it was attempting to break into the domestic connection market with Little Red. Ushering in a new era for sea travel, she’s designed to be different with a unique approach to how Caribbean cruises look and feel.

During 1988, Club Air operated two Boeing 727 jet aircraft on behalf of Virgin; these served the Luton to Dublin route until about 1990. Following disagreements over operations, Fields agreed to be bought out for an initial sum of £1 million with further payment on Virgin's first dividend. In its time, Virgin has operated 30 different 747s, according to Planespotters.net.

[35] The deal fell through in late 2019.[62]. Boeing 787-9. Our fleet We operate a mix of different aircraft from the Boeing 787 to the innovative Airbus A350, to make up one of the youngest fleets in the sky.

Virgin Atlantic's head office, known as The VHQ, is located on a business park in Crawley, England, near Gatwick Airport[51] and also houses the corporate offices of Virgin Holidays. Airlines without an international scheduled service from Heathrow prior to 1 April 1977 were obliged to operate from Gatwick. An early Boeing 747, it was named in honour of Freddie Laker of Laker Airways, who helped Virgin Atlantic following the demise of his own airline. Follow these easy steps to disable AdBlock, Follow these easy steps to disable AdBlock Plus, Follow these easy steps to disable uBlock Origin, Follow these easy steps to disable uBlock, the airline bid farewell to its last Airbus A340, break into the domestic connection market with Little Red, returned its final Boeing 787 Dreamliner to service, a three-year-old A350-1000 joined the Virgin fleet yesterday, a firm order for 14 Airbus A330-900 neo aircraft, Jet Airways Revival: Kalrock Capital-Jalan Consortium Wins Bid. [138] The former livery with black billboard titles and flying lady still remain on some older aircraft.

ADS-B equipped aircraft tracked via satellite.

Virgin Atlantic uses a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing wide-body aircraft and operates to destinations in North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Asia from its main base at Heathrow, and its secondary base at Manchester. These are entirely based in London Heathrow and fly to flagship routes like Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York, Johannesburg, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New Delhi. Between its bases, the 787-9 and Airbus A340-600 are only based at Heathrow.