The British airliner boasts a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing wide-bodied aircrafts operating out of North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Asia from its bases in Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester. In 2012, Virgin Atlantic carried 5.4 million passengers, making it the seventh-largest UK airline in terms of passenger volume. However, a year later, on December 31, 2013, founder Sir Richard Branson announced a pre-tax loss of £51million.
As a result, the company soon looked at ways it could start cutting its cost, with the airline announcing plans to scrap flights to Sydney, Tokyo, Mumbai, Vancouver and Cape Town.
However, it was revealed during ITV’s series “Virgin Atlantic: Up In The Air” how they also started planning a new lower-cost aircraft to add to their fleet.
The narrator revealed in 2015: “In a bid to keep up with the competition, the airliner is investing millions in one of these – the new 787 Dreamliner.
“It is being built by Boeing in the States.
Richard Branson announced his company was losing a lot in 2014 (Image: GETTY)
The documentary showed how the company purchases interiors (Image: ITV)
In a bid to keep up with the competition, the airliner is investing millions in one of these
“The first of 17 on order, this fuel saver will replace almost half the airliner’s fees and start saving them money.
“The company’s deign manager – Nik Lusardi – is on an unusual shopping trip to the Boeing factory near Seattle.”
The series then showed Mr Lusardi hand-picking what would go inside the plane.
He told the cameras: “We are going to choose the interior for the 787.
“I’ve been here about three times before, so I’m just getting my bearings again.
“But I know there won’t be very many special offers on – they don’t do two for one here.
“It’s mind-boggling how much expensive it can be, but I just spend the money.”
The narrator then discussed how the company will customise the jet to meet the needs of its customers.
She explained: “When you buy a new airliner, it’s just a shell, what you put in it is up to you.
“From kitchens to lighting and carpets this one-stop shop is a bit like a megabucks Ikea for primping up planes.
Virgin Atlantic announced plans for a new plane (Image: GETTY)
The new plane features state-of-the-art interior (Image: VIRGIN)
“Nik is after 198 economy seats, but the airline isn’t taking the upper-class seats from the catalogue.
“Nik and his team will design their own.”
The Dreamliner is 21 percent more fuel efficient than other similar sized aircraft in their fleet, meaning less carbon dioxide emissions, but also saving the airline millions in costs.
In 2018, the company announced a pre-tax loss of £26.1million, a significant improvement from the £48million loss in 2017.
Against a challenging economic backdrop, Virgin Atlantic Ltd increased overall revenue by £150m, a 5.8 percent year on year growth.
Shai Weiss, CEO Virgin Atlantic said: “2018 saw us delivering safe, industry-leading service and unrivalled customer experience, helping us to secure 4.8 percent growth in passenger numbers to 5.4m.
“We remained number one for customer satisfaction across the Atlantic, meanwhile Virgin Holidays increased its NPS score to its highest ever level.
“While a loss is disappointing, our performance has improved in 2018 despite challenging economic conditions and put us on a trajectory for growth and return to profitability.
“We continued to invest in a host of new initiatives to delight our customers, including greater choice by successfully launching three new ways to fly economy.”
He went on to explain what the future holds for Virgin Atlantic.
He added: “Operationally, we achieved our best arrival performance since 1997 while also introducing four A330-200s in lightening quick time to support our customers through the Trent engine supply issue, which impacted our 787 fleet.
“Now it is time to build on these foundations and our vision to be the most loved travel company. 2019 is an exciting year for Virgin Atlantic as we undertake several transformative projects.
“We’ll assume our role as a founding member of a $13bn combined transatlantic joint venture with Delta, Air France and KLM.
“In the summer, we’ll introduce our brand new A350- 1000 aircraft to the fleet, and launch routes to Tel Aviv and Sao Paulo.”
