Tag Archives: Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic is giving its oldest passengers a very special gift this holiday season. The airline has decided to upgrade the ticket of the oldest passenger on every flight to a higher category for the rest of 2019- all inspired by the kindness of strangers in a tweet, Virgin Atlantic said, “On behalf of us and @RichardBranson, complimentary upgrades will be offered to the most ‘seasoned’ customer on board all our flights from today until 1st Jan 2020. The airline got inspired from an incident where a passenger named Jack gave up his first-class seat for an 88-year-old woman named Violet. In mid-December, a Virgin Atlantic crew member detailed the incident on Facebook.

Raising a toast to 18 years of flying to India, Virgin Atlantic hosted an evening of fun and frolic in New Delhi. Industry partners were recognised at this event, further cementing their relationship with the airline. Virgin Atlantic took the opportunity to thank its Indian partners with a promise to continue to give more to the Indian market. The airline has some new and exciting initiatives in the pipeline.

Virgin Atlantic has announced the launch of three new ways to fly economy as part of a multi-million pound investment in the cabin for the 21st century traveller. Recognising that one size doesn’t fit all, from spring 2018 Virgin Atlantic will introduce ‘Economy Delight, ‘Economy Classic’ and ‘Economy Light’ tickets. The three new ways to fly will allow passengers to choose the product that suits their budget and travel style. “We’re unveiling the biggest change to our Economy cabin in over a decade – launching three new ways to fly, and a host of innovations on the ground and in the air as part of a wider £300 million investment. We know that one size doesn’t fit all, and soon our passengers can afford to be choosy and still travel in the UK’s leading economy cabin,” says Craig Kreeger, Chief Executive, Virgin Atlantic.

Virgin Atlantic has announced the appointment of David Hodges as the new Country Manager for its India operations. In his new role, David will drive Virgin’s business at a strategic and commercial level for all sales within India. An accomplished industry leader with over a decade of business development and external affairs experience, David has an established track record of leadership and business expansion at large, complex, multinational organisations including varied roles at London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Brevia Consulting. Hodges said, “I am excited to be part of the dynamic team in India. We will continue to champion the customer’s needs and tap the incredible growth opportunities in both leisure and business segments. I look forward to meeting the organisation’s objectives, strengthen the brand and grow business in the India market.” Prior to this, he was Senior External Affairs Manager in which he worked closely with the Government and the business sector on issues that led to a significant increase in the number of people flying with Virgin Atlantic.  

Indians planning to travel to the UK on Virgin Atlantic this summer can now make use of the new campaign by the airline, called Brexit Calculator campaign. With an exchange rate of Re. 1 to 0.012 British Pound, the campaign focuses on the bright side of Brexit and emphasises that there has never been a better time to book a trip to the UK. Virgin Atlantic offers a daily flight between Delhi and London Heathrow with return fares from Rs. 45,845. With the new campaign, Virgin Atlantic has introduced a fun ‘Brexit calculator’ application to help holidaymakers in India work out how much they could save on a trip to the UK. The calculator will compute the savings based on the pre-and post-Brexit prices and show how popular tourist attractions have become a bargain. With those savings, customers can save so much on popular tourist activities in London that it’ll cover the cost of their flight. Nick Parker, Head of India and Middle East, Virgin Atlantic Airways said, “Clearly there has never been a better time to travel to the UK. The Indian Rupee is at a record high against the Pound which means you’ll save on literally everything when you visit the UK. Britain is emerging as an increasingly popular destination for Indians traveling for their holidays, adventures, and business trips. The Brexit calculator is a fun way to explore quintessential British tourist activities, and work out how much you could save in the UK at the same time.”

Jet Airways and Virgin Atlantic have announced a further expansion of their codeshare agreement between India and the United States, which will make it even easier for guests to tailor their trip by combining flights from Jet Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines in a single booking. From April 19, 2017, Jet Airways guests travelling between India and the United States can connect through London Heathrow on to nine US destinations operated by Virgin Atlantic; Atlanta, Boston, Newark, Washington (IAD), New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle. This expansion builds on the existing agreement between Jet Airways and Virgin Atlantic in place since 2009 – enabling Virgin Atlantic guests to travel on Jet Airways operated services between Mumbai and London Heathrow in addition to the airline’s own direct Delhi to London service. In 2015, this codeshare was extended on to Jet Airways domestic services allowing Virgin Atlantic guests to travel between London Heathrow and five destinations across India via Delhi or Mumbai. Gaurang Shetty, Whole-time Director, Jet Airways, said, “Offering greater choice and connectivity to our guests has always been a hallmark of our network strategy. The new codeshares build on the success of our ongoing cooperation with Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic over London Heathrow and will provide our guests with more connectivity to and within the United States. Further, our loyalty program partnership will also enable the frequent flyers of both carriers to accrue and redeem their miles across each other’s entire network.”