Virgin Atlantic Airways
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.
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Incidents and accidents
- On 5 November, 1997, after numerous attempts to shake free the jammed main landing gear of an Airbus A340-300 G-VSKY failed, the aircraft made an emergency landing at London Heathrow Airport. The aircraft and the runway were damaged as the landing gear collapsed. The aircraft was evacuated safely causing only minor injuries.
- On 8 February, 2005, onboard an Airbus A340-600 aircraft (G-VATL) en route from Hong Kong to London, the fuel control computer system caused a loss of automatic fuel transfer between tanks. The left outboard engine lost power, and shortly after the right outboard engine also began to falter until the crew began crossfeeding fuel manually. The crew diverted to Amsterdam, where a safe landing was made. The interim accident report made 4 safety recommendations addressed to the primary certification bodies for large transport category aircraft (EASA and the FAA), advising on the need for a low fuel warning system for large aircraft.[20]
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Slogans
Over the years, Virgin has used many slogans, including:
- "Mine's Bigger Than Yours"
Written on the back of the Airbus A340-600s because they are the longest passenger aircraft in the world
- "4 Engines 4 Longhaul"
Originally an Airbus slogan when newer versions of the A340 were built until Virgin inherited the slogan. These were written on the engines of planes, because all Virgin's planes at the time were quad-jets as opposed to BA's long haul twin-jet Boeing 777s and Boeing 767s. The slogan was removed in 2006 because it "had run its course and it was time to move on"—Virgin would later order Boeing 787 twin-jet aircrafts in 2007.
- "Avoid The Q"
Used to advertise Virgin's London to Hong Kong to Sydney service. The Q is a double entendre, referring to both queues (with Virgin's online check-in feature) and Qantas, which also operates the same route.
- "Keep Discovering - Until You Find The Best"
Used to promote the London to Dubai service, playing with rival airline Emirates' slogan 'Keep Discovering'
- "BA can't keep it [Concorde] up!"
Written on the back of G-VFOX during June and July of 2003 after British Airways announced it would retire Concorde the following October.
- "No Way BA/AA"
Used in the late 1990s on several 747-400s to express Branson's displeasure with the proposed British Airways/American Airlines partnership. BA/AA combined held 100% market share on several US-UK routes (e.g. Dallas-Fort Worth to London), and a market share of more than 50% in several more (e.g. Chicago to London, JFK to London).
Others Include: "More experience than the name suggests," "Virgin, seeks travel companion(s)," "Love at first flight," "You never forget your first time," "Extra inches where it counts," "Fly a younger fleet," "One call does it all," "Hello gorgeous", "We're better by four" and, in a campaign featuring Austin Powers, "There's only one Virgin on this T-shirt (or bus, etc.) baby," and "Twice a day to London" in which Austin Powers is seen riding on the fuselage of a Virgin Atlantic 747. During that time G-VTOP was temporarily named "Austin Powered".
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Further reading
- Gregory, Martyn. Dirty Tricks: British Airways' Secret War Against Virgin Atlantic. New York: Virgin, 2000. ISBN 0-7535-0458-8
- Bower, Tom. Branson. UK: Fourth Estate, 2001 ISBN 1-84115-400-8
- Branson, Richard (2006 [2nd reprint]). Losing my Virginity - The Autobiography. Virgin Books Ltd.. ISBN 0-7535-1020-0.
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See also
- Virgin America
- Virgin Blue
- Virgin Express
- Virgin Galactic
- Virgin Nigeria Airways
- Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer
- V Australia
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References
- ^ UK CAA Fleet Database - Virgin Atlantic
- ^ Operating Licence
- ^ Virgin Atlantic Airways – Company Overview (PDF). Virgin Atlantic Airways. Retrieved on 2008-04-03.
- ^ West Sussex County Times, Friday, January 20, 1984 Page 1
- ^ 2003 UK Airline Statistics. UK CAA. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
- ^ 2006 UK Airline Statistics. UK CAA. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
- ^ "First biofuel flight touches down".
- ^ a b Losing my Virginity - The Autobiography., Branson, R., Virgin Books Ltd., London, 2006 (2nd reprint), p. 362
- ^ Virgin Atlantic fleet. Planesregister.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-10.
- ^ Goldstein, Steve. "Virgin Atlantic to delay A380 deliveries until 2013", Dow Jones MarketWatch, October 26, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-26.
- ^ "Virgin Reveals Dreamliner order", Airliner World, June 2007, p. 4.
- ^ Virgin Atlantic Press Release dated 24 April 2007
- ^ AIRwise.com, 18 October, 2007 - Virgin Atlantic In Talks Over 10 Long-haul Planes
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "James Bond Seeks Out Virgin Atlantic for "Casino Royale" Assignment," Virgin Atlantic press release, 4 July 2006.
- ^ Virgin selects Trent 1000 for 787s Flight Global, 03/03/08
- ^ Virgin Atlantic 744 seating configuration 4. Retrieved on October 20, 2007.
- ^ Expedia Travel Manager Resource Center
- ^ Singapore Airlines "The largest full-flat bed in Business Class"
- ^ Airbus A340-642, G-VATL. UK AAIB. Retrieved on 2007-07-26.
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External links
- Virgin Atlantic Airways - Official website
- V-Flyer customer-created site
- Virgin Atlantic Airways Fleet Age
- Virgin Atlantic Fleet Detail
- Photos of Virgin Atlantic Airways aircraft
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