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Information on Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic is the second largest long haul airline in the UK and the third largest European carrier over the North Atlantic. Nearly 75% of Virgin's flights operate from London Heathrow, with most of the remainder operating from London Gatwick. There are some services from Manchester Airport and two flights from Glasgow International Airport. Virgin Atlantic's fleet is composed of both Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Boeing 747-400s are used on all routes from Gatwick and Manchester. Boeing 747s and Airbus A340s are used interchangeably on routes from Heathrow. 
In Flight Facilities - Economy
Economy is the standard coach class of Virgin Atlantic and has fairly standard amenities for a Legacy carrier, such as free meals and drinks and a free amenity kit. Seats have a maximum seat pitch of 81 cm (depending on the aircraft type). In addition, updated economy seats have adjustable lumbar support, and are currently being installed across Virgin Atlantic’s fleet.
Premium Economy
Premium Economy has a separate check-in area, priority boarding ahead of Economy passengers, a wider seat with more legroom than Economy, and additional cabin services such as a preflight drink and dedicated cabin crew. As with Economy, in November 2006, Virgin launched an updated product with a wider seat that also supplies laptop power. It is being continually rolled out across the fleet starting with Heathrow-based A340 aircraft. As of April 2008 all A340s have the new product. The 747s based at Heathrow completed their refit by December 2007 and have an updated configuration of 62 seats all located downstairs.
Upper Class
Upper Class is the equivalent of business class on all Virgin Atlantic Airways’ flights. Virgin does not offer a traditional First Class cabin service and Upper Class is denoted by the International Standard of Service class code J, meaning “Premium Business Class”. The Upper Class seat is claimed by the airline to be the biggest fully flat bed compared with any other airline’s business class service (it is approximately 202 cm long and 84 cm wide), however Air Canada and Singapore Airlines have made a similar claim. The seat offers in-seat laptop power and power leads for iPods and Upper Class passengers have access to a chauffeur, drive thru check-in and private security channel (at some airports), the clubhouse (lounge), a larger menu than that of Premium Economy and Economy passengers and an in-flight bar.
In-flight entertainment
All Virgin Atlantic aircraft offer personal seat-back televisions that provide various entertainment channels. Certain aircraft (some 747-400s, one A340-300–G-VSUN–, and all A340-600s) have an Audio/Video on Demand (AVOD) system called V:Port. Older "Odyssey" and "Nova" IFE systems can be found on various aircraft in the fleet. These have smaller screens and are constantly broadcasting audio and video on a loop rather than broadcasting on demand.
The Story of Virgin Atlantic
On June 22, 1984 Virgin Atlantic operated its inaugural scheduled air service between London Gatwick and Newark Liberty using a single, leased Boeing 747-200 (G-VIRG) formerly operated by Aerolineas Argentinas. The airline became profitable during its first year of operation, aided by sister company Virgin Records' ability to finance the lease of a relatively inexpensive, second-hand Boeing 747. The firm also timed the start of operations to take advantage of a full summer's season, which included the June to September peak season - by far the most profitable travel period of the year.
In 1986, the airline added another Boeing 747 and started a second scheduled route from Gatwick to Miami. Additional aircraft were acquired and further routes were launched from Gatwick to New York-JFK (1988), Tokyo (1989), Los Angeles (1990), Boston (1991), and Orlando (1992). In 1987 a service was launched between Luton and Dublin using Viscount turbo-prop aircraft, but this was withdrawn around 1990. In 1988, Club Air operated two Boeing 727 aircraft on behalf of Virgin. They were leased from Eastern Airlines to also serve the Luton to Dublin route. These were withdrawn around 1990 too.
In December 1999 Virgin Group sold 49% of the airline's holding company to Singapore Airlines for £600.25 million. Virgin Group still owns the remaining 51%.
In August 2002, Virgin became the first airline to use the Airbus A340-600. Rolls-Royce Trent 500s power the Airbus A340-600s (though this is the only engine option for the type) and the Trent 900 will power Airbus A380s on order.
Virgin Atlantic carried 3.8 million passengers in 2003. This increased to 4.6 million in 2006, placing them seventh amongst UK airlines by this measure, but a clear second in passenger-kilometres, because of the long-haul nature of Virgin's operations.
During the 2012 Summer Olympics bids, Virgin Atlantic attached "London 2012" decals to the rear of many of its aircraft in support of London's bid.
Virgin volunteered one of its Boeing 747s for a test of biofuels in aviation. In February 2008, the aircraft flew from Heathrow to Amsterdam, with no passengers, and 20% of power for one engine was being provided by a plant-based biofuel, although the airline stated that it would expect to use biofuels based on algae in future.
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