Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, United Kingdom. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and was originally planned by its co-founders Randolph Fields and Alan Hellary to fly between London and the Falkland Islands. Soon after changing the name to Virgin Atlantic Airways, Fields sold his shares in the company after disagreements with Sir Richard Branson over the management of the company. The maiden flight from London Gatwick to Newark Liberty International Airport took place on 22 June 1984.
The airline along with Virgin Holidays is controlled by a holding company, Virgin Atlantic Limited, which is 51% owned by the Virgin Group and 49% by Delta Air Lines. It is administratively separate from other Virgin-branded airlines.
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 bases at London Heathrow and London Gatwick, and its secondary base at Manchester. The airline also operates flights from Glasgow, and seasonal flights from Belfast. Virgin Atlantic aircraft consist of three cabins: Economy, Premium Economy and Upper Class.
In 2012, Virgin Atlantic carried 5.4 million passengers, making it the seventh-largest UK airline in terms of passenger volume. In the year to 31 December 2013, it reported a £51 million group pre-tax loss (approximately US$87 million), however, in the year to 31 December 2014 the airline reported a return to pre-tax profit of £14.4 million.
Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited both hold Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Type A Operating Licences (AOC numbers 534 and 2435 respectively), both of which permit these airlines, operating as Virgin Atlantic Airways, to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.
History
Origins
Randolph Fields, an American-born lawyer, and Alan Hellary, a former chief pilot for Laker Airways, set up British Atlantic Airways as a successor to Laker Airways. Fields had the idea for an airline operating between London and the Falkland Islands in June 1982, when the Falklands War had just finished. Fields needed expertise, and contacted Alan Hellary, who had also been thinking about establishing a regular commercial service to the Falklands. Hellary was in contact with colleagues out of work following the collapse of Laker Airways, and they developed the idea.
However, the short runway at Port Stanley Airport and the time it would take to improve it made the scheme unviable, so the idea of the Falklands service was dropped. Instead, Hellary and Fields tried to secure a licence from Gatwick Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. A three-day inquiry in May 1983 rejected the application after British Airways, British Caledonian and BAA objected.
Hellary and Fields then applied for a licence between Gatwick and Newark, using a 380-seat McDonnell Douglas DC-10. However, faced with the prospect of direct competition from People Express, a post-deregulation "no frills" discount airline at Newark, they decided to secure more funding before proceeding.
Fields met Richard Branson at a party in London during which he proposed a business partnership. After protracted and testy negotiations, Fields agreed to a reduced stake of 25% in the airline (renamed Virgin Atlantic) and became its first chairman. 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. As a result of a High Court action, this additional payment was received shortly before Fields' death in 1997.
Formative years
On 22 June 1984, Virgin Atlantic operated its inaugural scheduled service between Gatwick and Newark using a leased Boeing 747-200 (registration G-VIRG), christened Maiden Voyager, formerly operated by AerolÃneas Argentinas. Part of Richard Branson's approach to business is to succeed within the first year or exit the market. This includes a one-year limit on everything associated with starting up. Virgin Atlantic became profitable within the first 12 months, aided by sister company Virgin Records' ability to finance the lease of a secondhand Boeing 747. The firm timed operations to take advantage of a full summer, from June to September, the most profitable period of the year.
In November 1984 the airline started a service between Gatwick Airport and Maastricht Aachen Airport in the Netherlands using a chartered BAC One-Eleven.
In 1986, the airline added another Boeing 747 and started a scheduled route from Gatwick to Miami. Additional aircraft were acquired and routes launched from Gatwick to New York JFK (1988), Tokyo (1989), Los Angeles (1990), Boston (1991), and Orlando (1992). In 1987, a service was launched between Luton and Dublin using Viscount turboprop aircraft, but this was withdrawn around 1990. In 1988, Club Air operated two Boeing 727 jet aircraft on behalf of Virgin. These served the Luton to Dublin route until about 1990.
Competition
Before its inception, British Airways had been the only airline from the United Kingdom serving long-haul routes to destinations in North America, the Caribbean and the Far East since the BA-BCal merger in the late 1980s. In 1991, Virgin was given permission to operate from Heathrow following the abolition of the London Air Traffic Distribution Rules (TDRs) which had governed the distribution of traffic between Heathrow and Gatwick airports since 1978, primarily to bolster the profitability of Gatwick. Airlines without an international scheduled service from Heathrow prior to 1 April 1977 were obliged to operate from Gatwick. However, airlines that did not already operate at Heathrow were still able to begin domestic scheduled services there provided BAA, which ran both Heathrow and Gatwick on behalf of the UK Government, and the Secretary of State for Transport granted permission.
The Civil Aviation Authority also transferred two pairs of unused landing slots that British Airways held at Tokyo's Narita Airport to Virgin to let it increase its frequency between Heathrow and Tokyo from four to six weekly round trips, making it easier for Virgin to compete against British Airways. The then-Chairman of BA Lord King called the CAA's decision, which the Government had endorsed, "a confiscation of his company's property".
In the year to October 1993, Virgin Atlantic declared a loss of £9.3m. The decision to abolish the London TDRs and to let Virgin Atlantic operate at Heathrow in competition with British Airways became the trigger for BA's so-called "dirty tricks" campaign against Virgin. In 1993, BA's public relations director, David Burnside, published an article in BA News, British Airways' internal magazine, which argued that Branson's protests against British Airways were a publicity stunt. Branson sued British Airways for libel, using the services of George Carman QC. BA settled out of court when its lawyers discovered the lengths to which the company had gone in trying to kill off Virgin. British Airways had to pay a legal bill of up to £3 million, damages to Branson of £500,000 and a further £110,000 to his airline. Branson reportedly donated the proceeds from the case to Virgin Atlantic staff.
In the 1990s, Virgin Atlantic jets were painted with "No Way BA/AA" in opposition to the attempted merger between British Airways and American Airlines. In 1997, following British Airways' announcement that it was to remove the Union Flag from its tailfins in favour of world images, Virgin introduced a Union Flag design on the winglets of its aircraft and changed the red dress on the Scarlet Lady on the nose of aircraft to the union flag with the tag line "Britain's Flag Carrier". This was a tongue-in-cheek challenge to BA's traditional role as the UK's flag carrier.
In June 2006, US and UK competition authorities investigated alleged price fixing between Virgin Atlantic and British Airways over passenger fuel surcharges. In August 2007, BA was fined £271 million by the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the US Department of Justice. However, the Chief Executive of Virgin Atlantic, Steve Ridgway, was forced to admit that the company had been a party to the agreement, had been aware of the price fixing and had taken no steps whatsoever to stop the price fixing. The company escaped a similar fine to that levied on British Airways only by virtue of the immunity it had earlier negotiated with the regulators.
In April 2010, a tip-off from Cathay Pacific led to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) investigating alleged price fixing between Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific on flights to Hong Kong between 2002 and 2006. Cathay Pacific received immunity from prosecution for reporting the alleged offence. A maximum fine, if found guilty, was 10% of turnover which based on the £2.5 billion in sales for the year to February 2009 would have been £250 million. At the time, the OFT stressed that it should not be assumed that the parties involved had broken the law. The OFT cleared both airlines in December 2012, concluding there were "no grounds for action".
Recent years
In May 2014, Virgin Atlantic ended flights to Sydney. In September 2014, Virgin Atlantic announced plans to scrap flights to Tokyo, Mumbai, Vancouver and Cape Town, and to codeshare transatlantic flights with Delta Air Lines. The company was also reported to be considering axing its new 'Little Red' domestic airline after suffering heavy losses. On 6 October 2014, Virgin Atlantic confirmed that Little Red services between London and Manchester would end in March 2015, with the Scottish routes closing in September 2015. Passengers used the routes from point to point as opposed to using it as a connection for longer haul Virgin Atlantic flights. The former BMI routes will continue with rival airline British Airways.
In June 2015, Richard Branson admitted that Virgin Atlantic would be in "real trouble" without strategic support from Delta Air Lines. With cumulative losses between 2010 and 2013 amounting to £233 million, the future of the 30-year-old airline was in doubt. In the same month, the airline announced it would cut 500 jobs to establish a more efficient management structure.
In July 2017, Virgin Atlantic announced their intension to form a joint venture with Air France-KLM. Under the agreement, Air France-KLM will acquire a 31 percent stake in Virgin Atlantic currently held by Virgin Group for £220 million subject to execution of definitive agreements and receipt of final shareholder, board, and regulatory approvals. Virgin Atlantic would retain its independence as a UK airline with a UK operating certificate, and will continue to fly under the Virgin brand.
Corporate affairs
Offices
Virgin Atlantic's head office, known as The Office, is located on a business park in Crawley, England, near Gatwick Airport and also houses the corporate offices of Virgin Holidays. The company operates several offices and call centres around the world, with a large office in Swansea, Wales, which is a base for reservations and sales, baggage claims and tracing, 'live chat' web support and a customer relations department.
International offices are located at Norwalk, Johannesburg, Barbados, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Greater Delhi, Lagos and Dubai.
Ownership
Virgin Group sold a 49% stake in the airline to Singapore Airlines in 1999 for £600 million. On 14 May 2008, Singapore Airlines formally announced an invitation for offers for its Virgin Atlantic stake, and publicly acknowledged that its stake in the airline had "underperformed".
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. By February 2011 it was confirmed that SkyTeam members Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines had appointed Goldman Sachs to advise them on a joint potential approach for Virgin Atlantic. Etihad Airways was also reported to be considering a deal, and Willie Walsh, chief executive of International Airlines Group, stated that they would be interested in the airline, but only for the lucrative take-off and landing slots it holds at Heathrow Airport.
On 11 December 2012, Delta Air Lines confirmed the purchase of Singapore Airlines' 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic for £224 million, with future plans to develop a transatlantic joint venture. Regulatory approval from the United States and European Union was granted on 20 June 2013, and the purchase was completed on 24 June. In December 2012, International Airlines Group CEO, Willie Walsh, suggested that the loss-making company would be history within five years. "I can't see Delta wanting to operate the Virgin brand because if they do what does that say about the Delta brand? I just don't see that the guy [Branson] has anything that stands out in terms of what he has achieved in the industry."
In July 2017, Virgin Group reached an agreement to sell a 31% stake in the airline to Air France-KLM for £220 million, leaving it with a 20% holding.
Business trends
The key trends for Virgin Atlantic are shown below (from 2014 onwards, figures are for year ending December; earlier figures are for year ending February, and exclude Virgin Nigeria operations 2005â€"2008):
Service concept
Virgin Atlantic aircraft operate with a three-class cabin configuration: Economy, Premium Economy, and Upper Class - the business class product. Premium Economy has a separate check-in area, priority boarding and a wider seat with more legroom. Upper Class features a seat that converts into a fully flat bed and access to chauffeur drive. Virgin Atlantic was the first airline to offer personal entertainment for all passengers in all classes.
The airline's frequent-flyer program is styled 'the Flying Club'.
Virgin Atlantic operates ten lounges worldwide. It has nine 'Clubhouse' locations - London (Heathrow and Gatwick), New York-JFK, Newark, Boston, Washington D. C., San Francisco, Los Angeles and Johannesburg. It also maintains a 'Revivals' arrival lounge in London Heathrow. They are accessible for passengers travelling in Upper Class and Flying Club Gold tier members.
Little Red
British Midland International provided domestic and European feeder traffic into Heathrow Airport in partnership with Virgin until it was purchased by British Airways' parent company International Airlines Group in 2011. The Lufthansa-owned airline had faced heavy annual losses of more than £100 million. Under the terms of the takeover, IAG had to relinquish some former BMI domestic slots at Heathrow. Virgin Atlantic purchased enough slots in 2012 to enable it to launch a domestic service on 31 March 2013, under the "Little Red" brand, operating a total of 12 daily services from London to Aberdeen (3), Edinburgh (6), and Manchester (3). The airline wet-leased four Airbus Airbus A320-200s from Aer Lingus, operating with Virgin Atlantic livery, under a three-year contract.
In September 2014, it was reported that Virgin was considering closing its domestic brand after suffering heavy losses, with Civil Aviation Authority figures confirming an average seat occupancy level of just 37.6% in 2013. The 12 daily pairs of take-off and landing slots at Heathrow cannot be sold to be used for long-haul routes.
On 6 October 2014, Virgin confirmed that the Little Red service would cease; flights to Manchester ended on 28 March 2015 and flights to Edinburgh and Aberdeen ended on 26 September 2015.
Virgin Atlantic International Limited
On 13 April 2015, Virgin Atlantic incorporated a new subsidiary - Virgin Atlantic International Limited (VAIL). In November 2015, VAIL obtained its own Air Operators Certificate and Operating Licence, and commenced operations with two former Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited operated Airbus A330-300 aircraft taking over routes previously operated by Virgin Atlantic Limited between London Gatwick and Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, Grenada and Tobago. These flights are operated on behalf of Virgin Atlantic.
Upon incorporation as an AOC holder, the majority of Virgin Atlantic's landing slots at London Heathrow Airport were transferred to VAIL, allowing Virgin to access the value of the carriers slots by 'mortgaging' them through open investment from capital markets, the first time in Europe a company has used airport take-off and landing slots to generate money in this way.
Destinations
Virgin Atlantic has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:
Fleet
Virgin Atlantic uses a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft. All the Boeing 747-400s are based at Gatwick and Manchester and operate routes to Orlando, Las Vegas and the Caribbean (Gatwick only); Airbus A330-300s are also used on selected routes from Gatwick to the Caribbean. The Airbus A330-300s also operate from Manchester to New York-JFK, Boston, Atlanta and San Francisco. Glasgow and Belfast International Airport offer a seasonal route to Orlando using Boeing 747s. Airbus A330s, Airbus A340s and Boeing 787s are used interchangeably on routes from London Heathrow Airport. In August 2002, Virgin became the first airline to operate the Airbus A340-600.
On 27 September 2006, Branson announced plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by cutting aircraft weight and fuel consumption. There was also an experiment in 2007 in partnership with Boeing to have aircraft towed to the runway to save fuel, as a potential change to future operational procedures. Virgin also volunteered a Boeing 747 for a test of biofuels in February 2008. The aircraft flew without passengers from Heathrow to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, with 20% of the power for one engine provided by plant-based biofuel. Virgin said that it expected to use algae-based biofuels in the future.
Virgin Atlantic took delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 in October 2014, becoming the first European airline to fly the variant. Virgin's order was first announced on 24 April 2007, and is for a total of 17 aircraft, with options on five more. The exercised options will replace the Heathrow-based 747 fleet during 2015 and 2016. Virgin Atlantic also has an order for the Airbus A380-800, with delivery due in 2018. The type was originally projected to enter service in 2006, but a combination of delays in production and Virgin deferring its order has pushed that date back.
The older Airbus A340-300 aircraft were withdrawn from service in April 2015, as rising costs had made it less economical to run the type. Virgin had begun to replace the A340-300 on routes with the two-engine A330-300 and 787-9. The final Virgin Atlantic A340-300 flight was made on 9 April, landing at Heathrow early on 10 April. Seven A340-600s remain in service.
The airline's A330s, in three-class layout, have been stationed at Heathrow Airport since April 2012.
Sir Richard Branson announced in March 2016 that The Spaceship Company would partner with Boom Technology to develop supersonic jets capable of travelling between London and New York in three and a half hours. He confirmed that Virgin Atlantic had options on ten of the aircraft.
Current fleet
Virgin Atlantic's fleet is operated by Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd and Virgin Atlantic International Limited.
Operated by Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited
The fleet operated by Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. consists of the following registered aircraft as of July 2017:
Operated by Virgin Atlantic International Limited
The fleet operated by Virgin Atlantic International Limited consists of the following registered aircraft as of July 2017:
Historical fleet
Livery
Virgin's first aircraft were painted with a "Eurowhite" design with a red stripe through the centre of the main deck windows. The engines were metallic silver and the tail red with the Virgin logo in white. In the 1990s, the refreshed design was introduced, removing the centre red stripe through the windows, engines were painted red, the Virgin Atlantic titles in grey were added along the main fuselage, and the 'Flying Lady' was introduced to the nose area. In October 2006, with the delivery of G-VRED, Virgin introduced a new design, with the fuselage painted in metallic silver and a revised tail fin, with red and purple features and the Virgin logo. Near the nose of each aircraft is a pin-up girl, the "Scarlet Lady", carrying a Union flag, which was designed by British artist Ken White, who modelled the motif on the World War II pin-ups of Alberto Vargas â€" hence the naming one of the fleet Varga Girl (in this case, an A340-600 registered G-VGAS).
Each aircraft has a name, usually feminine, such as Ladybird, Island Lady, and Ruby Tuesday, but some are linked to registrations (e.g. G-VFIZ became Bubbles). A couple are commemorative names (e.g. G-VEILâ€"Queen of the Skiesâ€"which was named by Queen Elizabeth II on 7 April 2004, marking the centenary of the Entente Cordiale; this frame exited the fleet in April 2016). An exception is Spirit of Sir Freddie. 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. G-VFABâ€"Lady Penelopeâ€"gained a special livery to celebrate Virgin Atlantic's 21st birthday. G-VFAB, Lady Penelope, exited the fleet in September 2016 after 21 years of service and was subsequently parted out.
The current livery dates from 2010 and returns to the "Eurowhite" design featuring purple billboard titles on the fuselage, slight changes to the Scarlet Lady, and new red metallic paint for the aircraft's tail and engines. On aircraft that have winglets, the wingtips are red, with the Virgin logo on the inside facing passengers on board. The Virgin Atlantic logo was also added in purple billboard titles to the underside of the aircraft.
Incidents and accidents
- On 5 November 1997, after numerous attempts to shake free the jammed main landing gear of an Airbus A340-300 (G-VSKY) failed, the aircraft en route from Los Angeles to Heathrow, made an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport. The aircraft sustained major damage to the undersides of engines one, two and four, which made contact with the runway surface during landing. The runway surface was also damaged and several runway lights were broken as the right main landing gear wheels broke up during the deceleration. The aircraft was evacuated safely. Two crew members and five passengers sustained minor injuries during the evacuation. The damaged aircraft was repaired after the incident and was retired from the Virgin Atlantic fleet in 2003.
- On 8 February 2005, on board an Airbus A340-600 aircraft (G-VATL) en route from Hong Kong to Heathrow, the fuel control computer system caused a loss of automatic fuel transfer between tanks. The left outboard engine lost power, and shortly afterwards the right outboard engine also began to falter until the crew began to crossfeed fuel manually. The crew diverted to Amsterdam and landed safely. The interim accident report made four safety recommendations addressed to the primary certification bodies for large transport category aircraft (EASA and the FAA), advising on the need for a low-fuel warning system for large aircraft.
See also
- Air transport in the United Kingdom
- List of airports in the United Kingdom
- Transport in the United Kingdom
References
Citations
Bibliography
- Gregory, Martyn. Dirty Tricks: British Airways' Secret War Against Virgin Atlantic. New York: Virgin, 2000. ISBNÂ 0-7535-0458-8
- Bower, Tom. Branson. UK: Fourth Estate, 2001 ISBNÂ 1-84115-400-8
- Branson, Richard. Losing my Virginity - The Autobiography. London: Virgin Books Ltd, 2006 [2nd reprint] ISBNÂ 0-7535-1020-0
External links
Media related to Virgin Atlantic at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website