Virgin Atlantic is delighted to announce the introduction of double suites for passengers travelling in the award winning Upper Class Suite.  The airline has fitted four pairs of double suites onto two of its Boeing 747-400 aircraft, giving passengers travelling together 2 square metres of space to enjoy their flight closer together.

Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Atlantic, commented:

“We are delighted that Virgin Atlantic is the first airline to offer this unique service.  It has been one of my long held ambitions to have double beds onboard our aircraft and now, once again, we are leading the way in product innovation onboard our aircraft. 

“The award winning Upper Class Suite provides the passenger with by far the longest and most comfortable bed flying in the air today and now passengers can enjoy even ‘suiter’ dreams next to their loved ones!”

The double suites are located in the centre of Zone B on the lower deck where the suites in the centre of the cabin are arranged in a herring-bone configuration.  Passengers can reserve a double bed at the point of checking in for the flight, when the reservations agent informs them that these are available onboard.  These suites can remain separate until the passengers wish to go to sleep, when cabin crew unclip the middle partition transferring the space into a double suite.  Alternatively the partition can be removed at the beginning of the flight when the suite is in seat mode for passengers who wish to socialise during the entire flight.

The Upper Class Suite is different to anything else flying today, the product has been designed to be separately both the most comfortable bed and the most comfortable seat in the air. Instead of extending from a seat into a bed Virgin Atlantic’s seat provides the passenger with a luxury leather armchair to relax on which then flips over into a separate bed with a mattress to sleep on.

Since being launched in November 2003, the Upper Class Suite has won six of the industry’s most prestigious design awards, which are as follows:

D&AD AWARDS   Yellow Pencil (Silver Award) Product Design
IDEA AWARDS   IDEA Gold Award - Transport Design
FX AWARDS   Best Leisure Furniture Award
DESIGN WEEK AWARDS   Best Industrial Product Design
ID ANNUAL REVIEW AWARDS Best in Category - Furniture
RED DOT AWARDS   Best of the Best of High Quality Design

Virgin Atlantic plans to introduce double suites onto all of its Heathrow Boeing 747-400 fleet.
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