By Catherine Richard
Virgin Atlantic Airlines commenced operations in June 1984 and is headquartered at Crawley, West Sussex, England. The Airlines is jointly owned by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group (51%) and Singapore Airlines (49%). The airline operates it bases at London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport and serves destinations in the United Kingdom and North America, the Caribbean, Africa, Australia and the Middle East with mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing wide-bodied jets.Virgin Atlantic Airlines - The History
Randolph Fields and Alan Hellary set up British Atlantic Airways to succeed Laker Airways. In 1982, Fields has an idea to commence flight operations between London and Falkland Island and sought out service help from the former chief pilot Hellary. Their plan didn't work and they had another plan to secure license for operations between Gatwick Airport and John F. Kennedy international Airport in New York City which ended in failure. Their plan to secure license for flight operations between Gatwick and Newark Liberty International Airport was successful and a 380-seat DC-10 was chosen for operation. To face the challenge, operational security was necessary and they decided to increase funds.
Fields met Richard Branson in a party and they shared opinions to become business partners. They renamed the airlines as Virgin Atlantic and the operations were successfully commenced in 1984. Right from the initial days, the airline was in rivalry with British Airways as BA was the only UK airline operating services to long haul routes.
Service Classes
Virgin Atlantic Airlines operates three classes of services namely Economy, premium Economy and Upper class. The Airlines commenced operations with the economy class and it is the standard coach where free meals, drinks and amenity kits are offered to passengers. 31 inches adjustable lumbar seats are currently available. Passengers in Premium Economy class enjoy some additional facilities like separate check-in area, wider seats with more legroom, preflight drink and special cabin crew. This service was launched by the end of 2006 and is available in Heathrow-based A340 aircraft, all Airbus A340s, Heathrow Boeing 747s and upper deck on London Gatwick Boeing 747s. Fully flat bed, In-seat laptop power and power leads for iPods, a larger menu, in-flight bar, access to chauffeur and much more are offered for upper class passengers and this is similar to the business class services offered in other airlines.
Entertainment
Personal seat-back televisions with entertainment channels are available in all flights. An AVOD system called V: Port is available in some 747-400s, one A340-300, and all A340-600s. Aircrafts based at London Gatwick and Manchester Airport has an Odyssey and Super Nova IFE systems.
Loyalty Programme
Red, Silver and Gold are the membership programs offered for frequent flyers of Virgin Atlantic Airlines. A first time flyer becomes a red tier member. Member with 15 tier points earn silver member ship and passengers who reach 40 tier points become gold tier members.
Fly with Virgin Atlantic Airlines and have great holidays!!!
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