Virgin Atlantic News Page 23
Virgin Atlantic returns to profit after successful turnaround
Virgin Atlantic has published annual financial results, confirming the successful delivery of its two year recovery plan and a return to profit. For the year ended December 31st, the group reported a profit before tax and exceptional items of £14.4 million, representing an improvement of £65.4 million on the previous year’s financial performance.
Virgin Atlantic takes Dreamliner to San Francisco with new daily service
Virgin Atlantic is doubling its flights between London Heathrow and San Francisco, by adding a second daily service from October 24th – and will be putting its newest aircraft on the route. Last year Virgin Atlantic announced it would add a second service to San Francisco five times a week for the summer season, starting on March 29th. Due to its popularity, the airline will be extending the service and next winter it will be flying the route twice daily, seven days a week from October.
Virgin Atlantic to trial Sony SmartWear at London Heathrow
Virgin Atlantic is launching a trial with Sony Mobile Communications to test how new wearable technology can help improve the airline’s maintenance and engineering processes. Engineers working on Virgin Atlantic aircraft at the airport and in the hangar will be testing the use of Sony’s SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1, tablet, mobile phone and SmartWatch 3 in an eight-week trial, starting next week.
Virgin Atlantic selects Tata Consultancy for IT role
Tata Consultancy Services has announced that it has been selected by Virgin Atlantic Airways, one of the UK’s leading airlines, to provide fully managed services to transform and optimise its IT processes, applications and infrastructure. TCS will set up a private cloud for Virgin Atlantic and provide services including Infrastructure-as-a-Service, End User Services and Application Support Services across the whole of Virgin Atlantic’s technology landscape.
Virgin Atlantic flight makes ‘non-standard’ landing at Gatwick
A Virgin Atlantic flight with 447 passengers and 15 crew has landed safely at London Gatwick Airport after discovering a potential problem with its landing gear. Flight VS43 had departed for Las Vegas earlier when it was forced to return to London. After circling over the Bristol Channel for several hours to burn off fuel, the plane made a safe, but bumpy, landing at London Gatwick.
Virgin Atlantic boosts Orlando flights from Manchester
Virgin Atlantic has announced it is increasing capacity from Manchester to Orlando and Las Vegas for summer 2015. To meet high demand to two of its most popular leisure destinations, Sir Richard Branson’s airline is adding 24 additional flights to Orlando and Las Vegas, amounting to over 8,000 additional departure seats for the summer season.
Delta adds new service to London Heathrow
Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic Airways will expand their partnership between the U.S. and U.K. next year with the introduction of Delta’s daily nonstop service from Philadelphia to London.
Virgin Atlantic returns to Tobago following brief hiatus
Virgin Atlantic has confirmed it will be offering services from London Gatwick Airport to the island of Tobago from March 2015. The airline will be resuming flights to the southern Caribbean island with weekly departures between March and October, and twice weekly departures between October and March. The flights were originally cancelled in March this year.
Virgin Atlantic launches first airline pilot career programme
In a first for the airline, Virgin Atlantic has today announced its airline pilot career programme - The Virgin Atlantic Future Flyers Programme - offering potential pilots the chance to join the airline with no previous flying experience. The programme, run in partnership with CTC Aviation, is the only one in Europe that sees new recruits training on long-haul aircraft once they receive their license.
Virgin Atlantic signs up HSBC to low carbon fuel intuitive
Virgin Atlantic has announced the UK’s largest bank, HSBC, is joining its exciting partnership with LanzaTech in preparation for a world-first flight using a ground-breaking low carbon fuel. LanzaTech is developing a revolutionary fuel that sees waste gases from industrial steel production being captured, fermented and then chemically converted for use as jet fuel.
Virgin Atlantic welcomes first Boeing Dreamliner 787-9 to Europe
Boeing and Virgin Atlantic Airways are celebrating the delivery of the airline’s first 787-9 Dreamliner. The airline is the first European airline to take delivery of the 787-9 and plans to operate the airplane initially on its London Heathrow to Boston route. Virgin Atlantic’s first 787-9 touched down at London’s Gatwick Airport following a more than 7,400 kilometre non-stop flight from Paine Field in Everett, Washington.
Virgin Atlantic calls time on Little Red subsidiary
Virgin Atlantic has announced its intention to cease its Little Red operation next year. Its daily services between London Heathrow and Manchester will continue until the end of March 2015, while its flights between London Heathrow and Edinburgh and Aberdeen will continue throughout summer 2015 with the final flights in September 2015. Little Red was launched in March 2013 as an attempt to reintroduce consumer choice on key domestic services after British Airways’ takeover of bmi created a monopoly on the routes.