Virgin Atlantic has confirmed it will reveal a new Upper Class cabin in the spring, designed to bring the “wow factor” back to air travel. Initially to be launched on morning flights from London Heathrow to JKF, the new cabin is designed to boost its share of business travel on the route.

The fraught battle to acquire BMI has taken another twist after news that Virgin Atlantic has submitted a late offer for the Lufthansa-owned airline. The latest move sees rival Virgin signing a “terms of agreement” contract with Lufthansa, and comes despite BA’s parent company IAG reaching a deal last month to buy the struggling carrier.

The British have long been known as a nation of pet lovers. Today Virgin Atlantic can reveal the true extent of our devotion to our four-legged friends.  Since 2003, the airline has seen an extraordinary 1500% increase in the number of dogs leaving the UK to be reunited with their owners as they go on holiday or relocate abroad.

Tech-savvy travellers can now check their flight status via Twitter with the new “tweet bot” service launched by Virgin Atlantic. The “tweet bot” @VAAInfo, a first for any airline takes a customer query about a flight status and tweets back within seconds giving real-time flight departure and arrival information.

As Vancouver celebrates its 125th birthday this year, Virgin Atlantic gives the city a very special present as the airline announces the launch of a new route from London Heathrow.

Virgin Atlantic is planning a major £50 million refurbishement for its fleet of 747-400 aircraft operating out of Gatwick and Manchester, due to begin in May 2012.