Virgin Atlantic today unveiled a limited edition Flying Lady livery to mark the airline’s 21st Birthday on 22 June this year.  The new livery was unveiled at Heathrow today and is the first of many celebrations the airline is organising throughout this special year.

The launch of the new Flying Lady livery was revealed on one of Virgin Atlantic’s Boeing 747-400 aircraft G-VFAB and will fly to New York today.

The new Flying Lady has been given a curvier figure and has moved from the nose of the aircraft to the rear of the aircraft and has quadrupled in size.  To celebrate Virgin’s 21st birthday she is holding a glass of champagne, which on its own measures 50” high (127cm) and could hold 29 magnums of champagne.

This new limited edition image is part decal and part paint.  The paint used on the cloak is ground breaking Mica technology paint which is both environmentally friendly and unique to Virgin Atlantic.  Shadows and highlights that give an effect of moving fabric was achieved by applying another set of ‘dot’ decals over the painted area.  Dark red dots were used to create the shadows and silver and grey dots were used to create the highlights.  Over 1500 litres of paint was used - enough to cover over 25 football pitches and took over 2,000 man hours to paint!

Commenting on the new Flying Lady, Sir Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Atlantic said:

“I feel very proud that the Flying Lady has taken pride of place at the front of our aircraft now for 21 years and to see her emblazoned across the fuselage is amazing. She is now 12.4 meters long and covers nearly 16.5 square meters of the aircraft!  As Britain’s flag carrier, the aircraft will still carry the Union Jack on the winglets and a special 21st birthday balloon has been painted on the front on the aircraft incorporating the Union Jack.”

The aircraft was also renamed ‘Birthday Girl’ and will fly between London Heathrow and many of Virgin Atlantic’s North Atlantic routes showing off her new vital statistics including a 300 inch bust with a FFF cup size!  She has also been given a more rounded Jennifer Lopez style bottom.

The Flying Lady was inspired by the famous Varga girls whose images graced an entire generation of British and American military aircraft during and after the Second World War.

The airline now flies to 24 destinations worldwide rising to 26 destinations in June this year with the addition of two new routes to Cuba and The Bahamas.  The airline employs 8300 worldwide and the fleet comprises of 31 aircraft - thirteen 747-400s and nine A340-300s and nine A340-600s.
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