Forty years ago, a £99 ticket from London to Newark on a second-hand Boeing 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.
We’re simply not Virgin without the Atlantic
From its very first flight from Gatwick to Newark, Virgin Atlantic’s origins have been rooted in North America. Today, the airline 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, an 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 (premium economy) cabin, pioneering the world’s flight seatback TVs and even setting up charity donations with loose foreign currency – a scheme that has 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 makeup 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. Last November it operated the historic Flight100, the first transatlantic flight on 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel. 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.
The 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 years
The USA and Caribbean remains Virgin Atlantic heartland, and the airline is expanding into new territories too. From 2025, it will offer over a million seats to India for the first time, representing 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 through 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. Virgin is 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 A330neos will join the fleet later this year.
Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic, commented, “When starting Virgin Atlantic 40 years ago, I went against everyone’s advice. Friends, experts, the press, the pundits – and on paper, they were right. Back then, travelling by plane wasn’t a fun experience, but airlines were allowed to get away with it as no real competition existed. I realised then that there was a gap to give passengers a great experience – and I love a challenge. The result was our ruby red airline, which shook up aviation.
“Since then, there have been many occasions where people told me we would fail. But we kept the same belief then that I had in 1984 – if you can create something that’s much better than what everybody else is offering, then you have at least a chance of succeeding.
“From 1984 to 2024, it is our people who make me the proudest. They are much more than just a workforce; they are what makes Virgin Atlantic special. They’re the red thread that keeps us all together, and I know they will continue to look after our customers for the next 40 years and beyond.”
Shai Weiss, CEO of Virgin Atlantic added, “Richard is the original entrepreneur, who brought a pioneering new approach to air travel in 1984, bringing much-needed competition to the skies. 40 years later and while we have evolved from a challenger to a leader, the same things set us apart. Today we’re looking ahead to the future and the red thread we’ll carry forward. Our people are our superpower, and their ruby red spirit is stronger than ever. Our customers mean the world to us, and we exist to make them smile – it’s that simple. We will continue to make aviation a better place for everyone, as intended since day one.”
