Virgin's 787s Will Fly New Routes and Replace A340s: CEO

The Boeing 787s that Virgin Atlantic Airways has ordered will replace the carrier's Airbus A340-300s and possibly some of its older A340-600s, according to the airline's CEO, Steve Ridgway. However, Virgin will keep most of its A340-600s in service after it starts taking delivery of its 787s. Credit: Airbus S.A.S.

Virgin Atlantic Airways will use the 15 Boeing 787-9s it has ordered to launch routes to a wide variety of new business and leisure destinations.

Steve Ridgway, Virgin Atlantic's chief executive, told Aviation.com that the 787-9s also will replace six Airbus A340-300s now in the airline's fleet and perhaps could replace its oldest A340-600s too.

"We will make sure we are managing the business to grow ... and preserve as much flexibility as we can," said Ridgway. The 787-9 order will give Virgin Atlantic a range of options regarding network and service frequency growth and aircraft replacement, he added.

The 787s will be Virgin Atlantic's first twin-engined widebody aircraft. Its fleet is now composed entirely of four-engined aircraft. The carrier will use the type throughout its network, said Ridgway. At present Virgin Atlantic's route network extends to North America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa.

When Virgin Atlantic starts receiving its 787s in spring 2011 it will use them to launch routes from the three airports it serves in the United Kingdom to new destinations such as Bangkok, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver, added Ridgway. Virgin Atlantic's UK gateways are London Heathrow, London Gatwick and Manchester.

Virgin Atlantic's 787 delivery schedule calls for it to receive four aircraft in 2011. The first is tentatively due to go to the carrier in April that year. Three more 787s are scheduled for delivery in 2012, four in 2013 and four in 2014.

The "very, very extensive" range of the 787-9 - at present the largest model of the 787 offered by Boeing - also would allow Virgin Atlantic to operate its 787s on nonstop services from the UK to destinations such as Perth in Western Australia and to Hawaii, said Ridgway.

"We are the number one long-haul tour operator from the UK," he noted, adding that the 787-9's passenger capacity would be "suitable for some of the smaller islands in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean." These are leisure destinations that Virgin serves already or would like to serve in future.

Seat configurations among Virgin Atlantic's 787s could vary depending on whether the routes each aircraft operates are primarily business or primarily tourism destinations, said Ridgway.

The airline sees its 787s seating 250-290 passengers. Business destinations would be served by 787s configured with larger premium-class cabins, in which seat widths and the distances between seats would be greater, so the number of seats in these aircraft would be fewer overall.

In addition to its firm order for 15 787s, Virgin Atlantic has also taken options on another eight 787s and negotiated purchase rights on 20 further aircraft. Ridgway revealed the airline has the right to convert its commitments on these 28 aircraft to the larger 787-1000 model that several potential customers - notably Emirates - have been asking Boeing to develop but which the manufacturer has yet to agree to launch.

"We're watching the development of that aircraft with interest," remarked Ridgway.

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