The Crawley-based carrier has welcomed a new widebody type to its fleet.
There were celebrations at Virgin Atlantic after it accepted its maiden Airbus A330neo – a -900 example.
Registered G-VJAZ (c/n 2018) and christened Billie Holiday, the airframe touched down into London/Heathrow on Saturday afternoon (October 15).
The arrival of the Rolls-Royce Trent 7000-powered jet is a milestone for the airline as it becomes the UK’s first A330neo operator. Moreover, the delivery also marked the 50th Airbus aircraft for Virgin Atlantic throughout its history.
Currently, the Crawley-based carrier has ordered 13 A330-900s, with six of these to be leased from Air Lease Corporation (ALC); for example, G-VJAZ is on lease.
The European airframer said Virgin Atlantic has an “intention to expand the [A330neo] fleet to 16 eventually”.
With the airline configuring its A330-900 in a three-class, 262-seat layout, the type will be the platform for Virgin’s next-generation Upper Class cabin.
This includes ‘The Retreat Suite’, which are two extra roomy seats situated at the very front of the aircraft, featuring a 6ft 7” direct seat to fully-flat bed and 27” touchscreen IFE – for more of an in-depth look about Virgin’s A330neo cabin, click here!
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