Virgin Atlantic announces recruitment drive
It may be up for sale, but that hasn’t dampened spirits at Virgin Atlantic, with the airline confirming a recruitment drive today, with the aim of creating up to 450 jobs.
The transatlantic carrier will launch new routes between Manchester and Las Vegas this year, as well as increasing the number of London departures to the Caribbean and Ghana.
A fleet expansion will also see a greater number of aircraft operating out of London airports, with a number of Airbus A330 aircraft coming on stream.
In total Virgin Atlantic – recognised by the World Travel Awards as offering the World’s Leading Airline Business Class last year – hopes to create 350 cabin crew roles and 50 pilot posts.
A further 50 at jobs will be added at airports and the head office.
Corneel Koster, director of operations, safety and security for Virgin Atlantic, said: “We have enjoyed a good year of recovery and can now look forward to expanding our network and welcoming a new fleet of aircraft.
“With the increases in flight rotations from our London airports and the new Las Vegas flight from Manchester, we will be creating jobs in both of these areas.”
Most of the new cabin crew jobs will support the additional weekly flights from London to Ghana, Tobago, Grenada and Havana, with the new head office roles created to support.
The recruitment drive is in addition to the 200 jobs that Virgin Atlantic announced in November for its new contact centre in Swansea, South Wales.
Sir Richard Branson has recently outlined the possible sale of the Virgin Group stake in the airline as it falls behind following a wave of consolidation in the international aviation market.