Courtesy of Virgin Atlantic
- Virgin Atlantic is launching a major cabin overhaul after reporting record financial results.It's shrinking economy class and removing onboard bars in favour of more premium suites.Airlines are in a luxury arms race as demand for premium long-haul travel booms post-pandemic.
Virgin Atlantic has announced a host of upgrades with a view to winning over the wealthiest passengers amid a Transatlantic luxury travel arms race.
"There is an insatiable demand for premium travel," CEO Shai Weiss told attendees at a launch event in London on Tuesday, saying that the overhaul had been made possible by booming demand pushing Virgin to a record financial year.
He added that more than 90% of seats in its premium and upper-class cabins are filled, "so we know we have the ability to provide more of it."
Since the pandemic, travellers have been more interested in flying premium, prompting several airlines to invest in upgrading their business- and first-class suites.
Lufthansa, Air France, and British Airways have all recently announced larger and more luxurious first-class suites. Air France's La Première takes up the length of five windows while Lufthansa's Allegris has floor-to-ceiling walls and 43-inch TVs. United Airlines has also upgraded its Polaris class, including Studio suites that are more like first class.
Virgin Atlantic isn't launching any completely new seats but expanding the size of its cabins and rolling out more Retreat Suites — its business-class-plus option. Transatlantic travel, in particular, has soared post-pandemic, providing a prime opportunity for the airline, given that it emphasizes such routes.
This spells a transformation from its original focus on economy passengers when it was founded in 1984, shaking up UK aviation by challenging the dominance of British Airways.
"I think not just Virgin Atlantic started with a heavy focus on economy, but travel has evolved so dramatically over the past 41 years — and especially over the last five — and I think we are here to show that we can do all these things expertly well," Weiss told reporters on the sidelines of the event.
The UK flag carrier is undergoing a $17 billion fleet transformation, which is expected to be completed by 2028.
10 Airbus A330neos being delivered from the third quarter of next year will have 16 more upper-class seats and 10 more in premium class, while the economy cabin will shrink by about 30% to 128 seats.
Pete Syme/BI
Plus, Virgin Atlantic is retrofitting its Boeing 787s, adding 13 more upper-class seats and 21 premium seats, while economy will be cut from 192 to 127 seats.
Its 787 upper class has sometimes been derogatorily known as "coffin class" because the suites are narrow, and they lack privacy in a herringbone layout. But they'll soon be updated to modern designs like those on its A330neos.
However, Virgin Atlantic will remove its famous bar to accommodate the extra seats.
Instead, the airline says its spacious and swanky Retreat Suites can also function as social spaces, as an in-suite ottoman allows them to fit two people.
The new A330neos will have six instead of two such suites, while the retrofitted 787s will have eight in total.
"I love the bar, and we do love a social space, but the extension of the social space on the 787 will be the Retreat Suite," CEO Shai Weiss told reporters.
Free high-speed WiFi
Virgin Atlantic also announced a partnership with Elon Musk's Starlink, becoming the first British airline to offer streaming-quality WiFi for free.
Business Insider previously tried out Starlink on a Qatar Airways flight last year, and found speeds of up to 215 Mbps — faster than most home internet connections.
Installation is expected to be completed across the Virgin Atlantic fleet by the end of 2027.
To use Starlink, you'll need to sign up for Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club loyalty program. The airline is working on key changes here, too, seeking to recognise passengers who don't fly frequently enough to move up the tiers but have been loyal to the airline for several years.
Virgin is also partnering with OpenAI and Tomoro.ai to introduce an AI concierge to help with travel ideas and navigating airports.
Pete Syme/BI
A demo at the event drew laughter from the crowd when the user mentioned that rival BA also flies to Mexico, and the concierge responded: "It's pronounced Virgin Atlantic, not BA," with a winky-face emoji.
The airline's increased focus on premium will also see it invest millions in refurbishing its lounges at London Heathrow and New York JFK.
Funded by a record 2024
"Everything we're gonna be telling you today will not be possible if our financial performance had not improved," Weiss said at the start of Tuesday's presentation.
Last year saw Virgin Atlantic post record results, with revenues of £3.3 billion ($4.5 billion) and profits of £230 million ($313 million), which were up fourfold from 2023.
The airline said this was fueled in part by continued demand from premium travelers, albeit more from those flying for leisure rather than work trips.
"Although business travel has not yet recovered to the extent we thought it would have done by now, we have been happy with the strength of consumer demand for premium leisure travel," Virgin Group Chairperson Peter Norris said in the airline's annual report.
Weiss told reporters that results for this year are likely to be similar, as uncertainty from tariffs and wars has damaged the hope of setting more records.
