All four were refurbished former Air Berlin aircraft. Withdrawn from service early due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, exited the fleet in 2022.
Launch customer. Includes G-VATL, the third prototype. G-VNAP in 'Thank You' livery. Early retirement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, last commercial flight 8 March 2020.
Throughout the airline's history, Virgin Atlantic has operated a mix of widebody aircraft from Airbus and Boeing, as well as a limited number of narrowbody Airbus aircraft. Initially launching with a fleet of Boeing 747-200 aircraft in 1984, the airline's fleet continued to be composed entirely of four-engined widebody aircraft with the incorporation of a single Boeing 747-100 in 1990, the Airbus A340-300 in 1993, and the larger Boeing 747-400 in 1994. Between 1995 and 2000, the airline began operating the twin-engined Airbus A320 family and Boeing 767. In August 2002, Virgin Atlantic became the first airline to operate the larger Airbus A340-600 variant of the A340.[20] By 2005, the airline retired its Boeing 747-100 and 747-200 aircraft, retaining the 747-400s.[citation needed]
On 27 September 2006, Richard Branson announced plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by cutting aircraft weight and fuel consumption. There was also an experiment in 2007 in partnership with Boeing to have aircraft towed to the runway to save fuel, as a potential change to future operational procedures.[21] Virgin Atlantic also volunteered a Boeing 747 for a test of biofuels in February 2008. The aircraft flew without passengers from Heathrow to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, with 20% of the power for one engine provided by plant-based biofuel. Virgin Atlantic said that it expected to use algae-based biofuels in the future.[22]
On 24 April 2007, Virgin Atlantic announced it had ordered the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, for a total of 15 Boeing 787-9s, with options on eight more.[23] The exercised options, later making for a total fleet of 17 Boeing 787-9s, were planned replace the Heathrow-based 747 fleet during 2015 and 2016. The 787s were due to be delivered in 2011, but by 2008 were expected to be delayed to at least 2013.[24] The following year on 22 June 2009, the airline announced an order for ten Airbus A330-300s, which would enter service initially in 2011, ahead of its delayed Boeing 787s.[25] The announcement of the orders and subsequent induction of the two aircraft types notably ended the airline's four-engined aircraft fleet composition, as the airline previously marketed itself with the "4 engines 4 long haul" slogan. While its first two Airbus A330-300s would operate on leisure-oriented routes following delivery in 2011,[26] Virgin Atlantic would begin operating A330s on its premium routes from Heathrow in April 2012.[27] Virgin Atlantic had also ordered six Airbus A380-800 aircraft, with options on a further six, delivery initially due in 2006, but the deliveries repeatedly deferred. The A380 order was officially cancelled in March 2018, with deposits transferred to A330 and A350 aircraft orders.[28]
In March 2013, Virgin Atlantic resumed operations of narrowbody Airbus A320 family aircraft, with four Airbus A320-200s wet-leased from Aer Lingus to operate short-haul, domestic services from its Heathrow hub.[11] The services were operated by Virgin Atlantic Little Red, a new subsidiary airline founded for the operation of the services. Due to low passenger numbers and significant financial losses, Virgin Atlantic Little Red's services were discontinued by September 2015, and Virgin Atlantic returned to wholly widebody aircraft operations.[12]
Virgin Atlantic took delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 in October 2014, becoming the first European airline to fly the variant.[29] The older Airbus A340-300 aircraft were withdrawn from service in April 2015, as rising costs had made it less economical to run the type. Virgin Atlantic had begun to replace the A340-300 on routes with the two-engine A330-300 and 787-9. The final Virgin Atlantic A340-300 flight was made on 9 April, landing at Heathrow early on 10 April.[30] Eight of the larger Airbus A340-600s remained in service.
Branson announced in March 2016 that The Spaceship Company would partner with Boom Technology to develop supersonic jets capable of travelling between London and New York in three and a half hours. He confirmed that Virgin Atlantic had options on 10 of the aircraft.[31][32]
In July 2016, Virgin Atlantic announced an order for 12 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, to eventually replace the ageing four-engined Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A340-600 fleets. The order consists of eight aircraft which will be purchased directly from Airbus, with a further four acquired through leasing companies. The 12 A350-1000s on order were split into two separate configurations, consisting of a business-oriented, premium-heavy configuration, and a leisure-oriented, economy-heavy configuration for select routes to the Caribbean, Las Vegas, and Orlando, Florida. This order would leave Virgin Atlantic with a streamlined fleet of Airbus A330s, A350s and Boeing 787 aircraft, leaving just two pilot pools and increasing cost efficiencies.[33][34] The A350s feature three classes–Economy (in a 3–3–3 layout), Premium (2–4–2) and Upper Class (1–2–1)– and its business-oriented configuration features a bar area known as The Loft, which was first introduced on the London to New York route in summer 2019.[35][36] Its leisure-oriented A350 configuration was announced to feature a special area called The Booth, and was planned for launch on its London to Orlando route in December 2021,[37] but subsequently launched between London and Lagos instead.[citation needed]
Due to engine fan-blade corrosion issues with the fleet of Boeing 787 aircraft, Virgin Atlantic chose to move some of its Manchester-based Boeing 747 and Airbus A330 aircraft to cover routes out of London Heathrow, with the airline temporarily parking some of its 787s while they wait for attention. In 2016, a spokesperson for Rolls-Royce, the manufacturer of the Trent 1000s, said the company "would start producing new corrosion-resistant fan blades by the start of 2017". In place of these aircraft, Virgin Atlantic leased four former Air BerlinA330-200 aircraft, which were announced to be based in Manchester. The A330-200 aircraft arrived in 2018, with full Virgin Atlantic liveries, but with former Air Berlin cabin products, with Virgin Atlantic's Premium Economy to be retrofitted at a later date. Virgin Atlantic said it would add "resilience" to its fleet after the engine issues with its 787s. It was thought these aircraft would be on initial 12-month leases, allowing them to assess their viability in the fleet, with the possibility of extending the leases further.[38] The airline also chose to reinstate a former A340-600 aircraft G-VNAP into the fleet from storage, after purchase from its lessor, to cover for one A340 aircraft leaving the fleet, for which the lease was unable to be extended.[39] The A330-200s began to leave the fleet in late 2021, with the final A330-200 leaving the fleet in March 2022.[citation needed]
On 17 June 2019, Virgin Atlantic announced an order for fourteen Airbus A330-900s, with options for an additional six aircraft, and delivery expected in September 2021.[4] In July 2019, Virgin Atlantic initially announced the retirement of its remaining Airbus A340-600s by November 2019, however in September 2019 had extended the A340-600's service to December 2019, while the airline's Boeing 787 aircraft undergo further repairs on their Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.[40][41] The retirement date for the A340-600 was subsequently postponed after several changes in date to May 2020, before the type was ultimately retired early on 9 March 2020, with the final scheduled A340-600 service taking place the day prior from Lagos to London Heathrow.[42][43][44][16]
The carrier took delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000 aircraft in August 2019.[45] Though the A350s were intended to gradually replace its fleet of Boeing 747s over time, Virgin Atlantic announced the early retirement of its seven remaining Boeing 747-400 aircraft on 5 May 2020 as an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant loss in travel demand.[18] The airline had additionally deferred deliveries of its Airbus A330-900s to 2022, as well as its remaining Airbus A350-1000s until later in 2021.[46] In December 2020, Virgin Atlantic sold and leased back two of their latest Boeing 787-9 aircraft to fund the repayment of a loan from Griffin Global Asset Management and to raise up to £70 million ($93 million) worth of funds.[citation needed] In December 2021, the airline leased two additional Airbus A350-1000s with deliveries in 2023 and 2024, increasing its total order to 14 A350s.[47]
On 11 July 2022, Virgin Atlantic announced further details of its incoming Airbus A330-900 fleet, including its seating configuration, that it planned to receive up to sixteen of the type, indicating that two additional planes were ordered and that the first A330-900 would arrive during September 2022, with the aircraft launching on its London to Boston route during October 2022.[48]
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Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, West Sussex, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and was originally planned by its co-founders Randolph Fields and Alan Hellary to fly between London and the Falkland Islands. Soon after changing the name to Virgin Atlantic Airways, Fields sold his shares in the company to Richard Branson in return for unlimited free travel. The maiden flight from London–Gatwick to Newark took place on 22 June 1984.
China Airlines is the state-owned flag carrier of the Republic of China (Taiwan). It is one of Taiwan's two major airlines, along with EVA Air. It is headquartered in Taoyuan International Airport and operates over 1,400 flights weekly – including 91 pure cargo flights – to 102 cities across Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania. Carrying nearly 20 million passengers and 5700 tons of cargo in 2017, the carrier was the 33rd largest airline in the world in terms of revenue passenger kilometers and 10th largest in terms of freight revenue ton kilometers.
Air Mauritius is the flag carrier airline of Mauritius. The airline is headquartered in Port Louis, Mauritius, with its hub at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport.
The Airbus A340 is a long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 quadjet in parallel with the A330 twinjet. In June 1987, Airbus launched both designs with their first orders and the A340-300 took its maiden flight on 25 October 1991. It was certified along with the A340-200 on 22 December 1992 and both versions entered service in March 1993 with launch customers Lufthansa and Air France. The larger A340-500/600 were launched on 8 December 1997; the A340-600 flew for the first time on 23 April 2001 and entered service on 1 August 2002.
The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus began developing larger A300 derivatives in the mid-1970s, giving rise to the A330 twinjet as well as the Airbus A340 quadjet, and launched both designs along with their first orders in June 1987. The A330-300, the first variant, took its maiden flight in November 1992 and entered service with Air Inter in January 1994. The A330-200, a shortened longer-range variant, followed in 1998 with Canada 3000 as the launch operator.
A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft and in the largest cases as a jumbo jet, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is 5 to 6 m. In the typical wide-body economy cabin, passengers are seated seven to ten abreast, allowing a total capacity of 200 to 850 passengers. Seven-abreast aircraft typically seat 160 to 260 passengers, eight-abreast 250 to 380, nine- and ten-abreast 350 to 480. The largest wide-body aircraft are over 6 m (20 ft) wide, and can accommodate up to eleven passengers abreast in high-density configurations.
Air China, officially Air China Limited, (中国国际航空公司) is a major Chinese airline and the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China. It is headquartered in Shunyi, Beijing. The airline offers both domestic and international flights to different destinations around China and the world.
SriLankan Airlines is the flag carrier of Sri Lanka and a member airline of the Oneworld airline alliance. It was launched in 1979 as Air Lanka following the termination of operations of the original Sri Lankan flag carrier Air Ceylon. As of April 2024, it is Sri Lanka's main airline by number of aircraft and destinations. Its hub is Bandaranaike International Airport.
The Airbus A350 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The initial A350 design proposed in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the Airbus A330 with composite wings and new engines. Due to inadequate market support, Airbus switched in 2006 to a clean-sheet "XWB" design, powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent XWB high bypass turbofan engines. The prototype first flew on 14 June 2013 from Toulouse, France. Type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) was obtained in September 2014, followed by certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) two months later.
Singapore Airlines has been in operation since 1972, and operates a predominantly widebody fleet, until the second re-introduction of the Boeing 737 in March 2021 following the merger with SilkAir. The airline also operates Boeing 747-400F and Boeing 777F freighters. As of April 2024, there were 160 aircraft registered in the Singapore Airlines fleet, comprising 150 passenger aircraft and 12 freighters.
Malaysia Airlines operates a fleet of Airbus A330 and A350 widebodies as well as Boeing 737NG and Boeing 737 MAX narrowbodies.
Premium economy class, also known by brand names which vary by company, is a travel class offered on many airlines. It is usually positioned between standard economy class and business class in terms of price, comfort, and available amenities. On December 12, 1992, EVA Air introduced the Economy Deluxe Class on the inaugural flight of its first trans-Pacific route (TPE-LAX), becoming the first airline to offer this class of service. In some countries, this class has emerged as a response from governments and companies requiring economy class for travel done by staff, while still getting some benefits like airport priority.
Emirates is one of the two flag carrier airlines of the United Arab Emirates, the other being Etihad Airways, and is currently the largest airline in the Middle East. The airline's fleet is composed of three wide-bodied aircraft families, the Airbus A350, Airbus A380 and Boeing 777, the latter two of whose largest fleets it operates. The airline also has the Boeing 777X and Boeing 787 aircraft on order.
Lufthansa operates a mainline fleet of 296 aircraft, consisting of Airbus narrow and wide-body and Boeing wide-body aircraft. The mainline fleet is composed of seven different aircraft families: the Airbus A320 and A320neo families, Airbus A330, Airbus A340, Airbus A350, Airbus A380, Boeing 747 and Boeing 787. This list excludes Lufthansa brand subsidiaries Lufthansa CityLine, Lufthansa City Airlines and Lufthansa Cargo.
Air France operates a fleet of 226 aircraft, most of which are manufactured by Airbus. The airline's fleet of narrow-body aircraft comprises all four Airbus A320 family variants. The airline's widebody fleet, consisting of the Airbus A330, Airbus A350, Boeing 777, and Boeing 787, serve medium to long-haul routes. The airline had also ordered the short-haul Airbus A220-300s to replace their aging Airbus A318s and A319s. In September 2023, Air France-KLM announced an additional order for 50 Airbus A350s to replace their Airbus A330s and their Boeing 777-200ERs.
British Airways operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft. It operates a single-aisle fleet of Airbus aircraft, including the Airbus A320-200 and the Airbus A320neo. It also operates a twin-aisle aircraft fleet of the Airbus A350-1000, Airbus A380, Boeing 777 and 787.
Philippine Airlines is composed of wide-body and narrow-body aircraft from five families : Airbus A320ceo family, Airbus A321neo, Airbus A330, Airbus A350, and Boeing 777.
Ethiopian Airlines operates a fleet of Airbus A350, Boeing 737, Boeing 767, Boeing 777, Boeing 787 and Bombardier Dash Q-400 aircraft.
Thai Airways International operates a fleet of wide-body and narrow-body aircraft from Airbus and Boeing.
Qatar Airways operates a fleet of both narrow-body and wide-body aircraft, consisting of the Airbus A320, Airbus A330, Airbus A350, Airbus A380, Boeing 737 MAX, Boeing 777, and Boeing 787 Dreamliner families, totaling 255 aircraft.
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