Virgin Atlantic has retrofitted the first of four Airbus A330-200s which joined the fleet from Air Berlin mid way through the year. The retrofit includes the installation of the airline’s famous Premium cabin, along with brand new Upper Class Suites and a refreshed look for Economy. The remaining three A330-200 refits are all expected to be completed by January 2019 and the aircraft will operate on Caribbean services from Gatwick Airport, along with a number of US flights from Manchester.
The front cabin is a relatively new concept for the carrier, with all-forward facing seats in Upper Class, which are heavily customised from the original Air Berlin seats. All trim and finishes, including the seat fabric with natural and soft Espresso leather, were selected by Virgin’s in house design team to underline the cabin’s distinctive Virgin Atlantic flair. In a bid to appeal to the leisure market, the airline has decided to market these seats as three different propositions including Love Suites, Corner Suites and Freedom Suites.
Customers traveling on the airline’s latest aircraft will be able to enjoy the full benefits of the award winning Premium Economy cabin. All 35 seats in a 2 x 3 x 2 configuration are set in a dedicated private cabin, and offer a 38” seat pitch and bespoke food, drink and service offering.
Economy sees additional touches of the airline’s famous style throughout. Seats feature distinctive red tones, along with new leather headrests. Each cabin now has new Black Cherry curtains and carpets, along with refreshed bathrooms, stylish mood lighting and wall finishes.
Daniel Kerzner, Vice President of Customer Experience at Virgin Atlantic, commented; “I’m thrilled to see the first of our fully refurbished A330-200s arrive into our fleet and looking amazing. Initial response from our customers and our people has been fantastic. These planes were introduced to protect our flying programme with a commitment to bring them up to our high standards with our unique Virgin Atlantic flair. The speed at which we’ve been able to totally transform these aircraft is phenomenal, and is a true testament to our people and our passion to deliver a wow experience to our customers.”
While the A330-200s were introduced to Virgin Atlantic’s fleet in March to provide extra resilience in light of the global industry shortage of Trent 1000 engines, used on the airline’s 787s, the airline opted for the “full Virgin Atlantic flair” in every cabin through a retrofit. Seasoned Virgin Atlantic passengers will notice the lack of a bar, something the carrier was previously able to tout that every plane had. However in comparison to the airline’s 747s that operate on the leisure routes, with a small token bar and just 14 seats, most passengers will be happy to lose this exposed bar in return for additional seats in a popular cabin class on these very specific destinations that the aircraft will fly.
TheDesignAir 