"relations department. International offices are located at Norwalk, Johannesburg, Barbados, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Greater Delhi, Lagos and Dubai. Virgin Group sold a 49% stake in the airline to Singapore Airlines in 1999 for £600 million. On 14 May 2008, Singapore Airlines formally announced an invitation for offers for its Virgin Atlantic stake, and publicly acknowledged that its stake in the airline had ""underperformed"". In November 2010 it was reported that Virgin Atlantic had appointed Deutsche Bank to begin a strategic review of options for the airline following the tie-up between British Airways and American Airlines. By February 2011 it was"
"presence of Alaska Airlines in California and the West Coast. After the acquisition was announced, Richard Branson, the head of the Virgin Group and one of the founders of Virgin America described himself as ""sad"" and disappointed. Despite the protest from its most high-profile shareholder, the majority of Virgin America's shareholders voted to approve the sale to Alaska Air Group. Alaska Air Group purchased Virgin America for $57 per share, a total valuation of $2.6 billion, with additional expenses bringing the cost to approximately $4 billion. The acquisition was completed on December 14, 2016. The United States Department of Transportation"
"Virgin Nigeria, which ceased operations in 2009. Another airline, Virgin America, began flying out of San Francisco International Airport in August 2007. Branson's next venture with the Virgin group was Virgin Fuels, which was set up to respond to global warming and exploit the recent spike in fuel costs by offering a revolutionary, cheaper fuel for automobiles and, in the near future, aircraft. Branson has stated that he was formerly a global warming sceptic and was influenced in his decision by a breakfast meeting with Al Gore. On 21 September 2006, Branson pledged to invest the profits of Virgin Atlantic"
"Virgin Atlantic as Finance Manager. In 1996, Godfrey became chief financial officer and represented Virgin's interests in the acquisition of a new European low cost airline – Virgin Express. In 1999, Godfrey joined with Sir Richard Branson announcing plans of Australia's newest airline, Virgin Blue. “In the case of Virgin Blue, we backed the plans of a former Virgin Express executive and entrepreneur Brett Godfrey, who first presented his ideas to me sketched out on a beer mat."" Sir Richard Branson In 2003 Virgin Blue Airlines debuted on the ASX and turned a $10m investment into a $2.3B listed company"
"Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, United Kingdom. The airline was established in 1984 as ""British Atlantic Airways"", and was originally planned by its co-founders Randolph Fields and Alan Hellary to fly between London and the Falkland Islands. Soon after changing the name to Virgin Atlantic Airways, Fields sold his shares in the company after disagreements with Sir Richard Branson over the management of the company. The maiden flight from Gatwick Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport took place"
"the process, and approached a number of carriers about the sale. Of the airlines approached, both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic stated their interest to acquire the airline. At the time Virgin chairman Richard Branson attacked British Airways' intention to bid for CityFlyer Express by claiming publicly that it already had a ""total monopoly"" at Heathrow and now wanted a ""total monopoly"" at Gatwick as well, thereby undermining its rivals' ability to compete with it on a level playing field. Disregarding a publicly stated offer from Virgin Atlantic to purchase the company for £100mn, HSBC announced the sale of CityFlyer"
"in late to advise them on a potential bid for Sir Richard Branson's 51% stake in Virgin Atlantic, which could lead to the airline joining SkyTeam and would sharply increase the alliance's footprint in London. Rivals Star Alliance and Etihad Airlines are also investigating competing options with regard to Virgin Atlantic. China Eastern Airlines joined the alliance on 21 June 2011, along with its subsidiary, Shanghai Airlines, to become the 14th member. Later in 2011, on 28 September, China Airlines joined the alliance. In the same year, Xiamen Airlines committed to be incorporated as a full member by the end"
"Ansett. Additionally, Ansett's fleet had been allowed to deteriorate, a situation which came to a head with a partial grounding of its Boeing 767 fleet during the Christmas 2000 season and a full grounding in Easter 2001. Ansett was thus unable to compete with the low-cost carriers and Qantas, who were able to run at a loss on some routes, as they could not maintain revenue while cutting their costs, which included laying off staff. A deal made in April 2001 for Ansett to purchase Virgin Blue was repudiated by Virgin chief Richard Branson in August, and Singapore Airlines, which"
"the case, giving £500,000 to Branson and a further £110,000 to his airline; furthermore, BA was to pay the legal fees of up to . Branson divided the compensation among his staff, the so-called ""BA bonus."" British Airways and Virgin Atlantic continued to be noticeably bitter and active rivals for many years afterwards. During the 1990s, British Airways became the world's most profitable airline under the slogan ""The World's Favourite Airline"". In 1992, it bought the small German domestic airline Delta Air Transport and renamed it Deutsche BA. By the time it was sold in June 2003, Deutsche BA was"
"April 2012. Sir Richard Branson announced in March 2016 that The Spaceship Company would partner with Boom Technology to develop supersonic jets capable of travelling between London and New York in three and a half hours. He confirmed that Virgin Atlantic had options on 10 of the aircraft. In July 2016, Virgin Atlantic announced an order for 12 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, to eventually replace the ageing four-engined Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A340-600 fleets. The order consists of eight aircraft which will be purchased directly from Airbus, with a further four acquired through leasing companies. It is expected that the 12"
"Express to Virgin's arch-rival British Airways for £75mn in November 1998. This immediately caused controversy, with Richard Branson stating that HSBC never responded to Virgin’s offer despite numerous requests from Virgin. CityFlyer's management defended its decision to sell to British Airways by stating that it had never received Virgin's bid in the first place. This resulted in the already agreed takeover of CityFlyer Express by British Airways being referred to the Competition Commission. The Competition Commission eventually cleared the sale of CityFlyer Express to British Airways for £75mn in 1999. However, it also imposed a ceiling on the maximum number"
"facing passengers on board. The Virgin Atlantic logo was also added in purple billboard titles to the underside of the aircraft. Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, United Kingdom. The airline was established in 1984 as ""British Atlantic Airways"", and was originally planned by its co-founders Randolph Fields and Alan Hellary to fly between London and the Falkland Islands. Soon after changing the name to Virgin Atlantic Airways, Fields sold his shares in the company after disagreements with Sir"
"its passengers, hacking its computers, and leaking stories to the press that portrayed Virgin negatively. After the so-called campaign of ""dirty tricks"", British Airways settled the case, giving £500,000 to Branson, a further £110,000 to his airline, and had to pay legal fees of up to £3 million. Branson distributed his compensation (the so-called ""BA bonus"") among his staff. Branson launched Virgin Mobile in 1999, and Virgin Blue in Australia (now named Virgin Australia) in 2000. On 25 September 2004, Branson announced the signing of a deal under which a new space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, will license the technology"
"Gatwick-based British carrier Dan-Air. Soon after British Airways' privatisation, Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Airways began to emerge as a competitor on some of BA's most lucrative routes. Following Virgin's highly publicised mercy mission to Iraq to fly home hostages of Saddam Hussein in 1991, King is reported to have told Marshall and his PA Director David Burnside to ""do something about Branson"". This began the campaign of ""dirty tricks"" that ended in Branson suing King and British Airways for libel in 1992. King countersued Branson and the case went to trial in 1993. British Airways, faced with likely defeat, settled"
"Virgin Australia Virgin Australia Airlines is Australia's second-largest airline after Qantas and it is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin brand. Based in Bowen Hills, Brisbane, the airline was co-founded by British businessman Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group and former CEO Brett Godfrey. It was established as Virgin Blue in November 1999 with two aircraft operating on a single route, and suddenly found itself catapulted to the position of Australia's second airline after the collapse of Ansett Australia in September 2001. The airline has grown to directly serve 29 cities in Australia from hubs"
"a start-up transatlantic airline. That ""guy"" turned out to be Richard Branson and what began life with the working title of 'British Atlantic Airways' eventually became Virgin Atlantic Airways. In January 1984, Tait moved to New York City to become the fledgling airline’s first US employee. Less than six months later, 'on a wing and a prayer' in June 1984 Virgin Atlantic began operations between London Gatwick and Newark New Jersey with a single Boeing 747. As Executive Director and Executive Vice President North America originally working out of a Greenwich Village townhouse and reporting directly to chairman Richard Branson,"
"kill off Virgin. British Airways had to pay a legal bill of up to £3 million, damages to Branson of £500,000 and a further £110,000 to his airline. Branson reportedly donated the proceeds from the case to Virgin Atlantic staff. During the 1990s, Virgin Atlantic jets were painted with ""No Way BA/AA"" as a declaration of its opposition to the attempted merger between British Airways and American Airlines. In 1997, following British Airways' announcement that it was to remove the Union Flag from its tailfins in favour of world images, Virgin introduced a Union Flag design on the winglets of"
"Virgin empire. In 1993, Branson took what many saw as being one of his riskier business exploits by entering into the railway business. Virgin Trains won the franchises for the former Intercity West Coast and Cross-Country sectors of British Rail. He created V2 Records in 1996 in order to re-enter the music business, owning 5% himself. Virgin also acquired European short-haul airline Euro Belgian Airlines and renamed it Virgin Express. A series of disputes in the early 1990s caused tension between Virgin Atlantic and British Airways, which viewed Virgin as an emerging competitor. Virgin subsequently accused British Airways of poaching"
"in air travel following the September 11 attacks, and rising maintenance costs. Although Concorde was technologically advanced when introduced in the 1970s, 30 years later, its analogue cockpit was outdated. There had been little commercial pressure to upgrade Concorde due to a lack of competing aircraft, unlike other airliners of the same era such as the Boeing 747. By its retirement, it was the last aircraft in the British Airways fleet that had a flight engineer; other aircraft, such as the modernised 747-400, had eliminated the role. On 11 April 2003, Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson announced that the"
"with the 30% share it already owned. The European antitrust body approved the takeover on 14 May 2009, allowing Lufthansa to become the majority stakeholder. Due to landing rights issues, the stake would be tentatively held by a Lufthansa-controlled but British-based company, LHBD Holding. Once new bilateral agreements were in place, Lufthansa would take direct control. In June 2009 it was announced that Lufthansa would buy the remaining stake in the airline from Bishop for less than originally agreed upon. Lufthansa announced in September 2011 that it planned to sell BMI following continued losses. Virgin Atlantic were mooted to be"
"""second"" airline, British Caledonian, in July of that same year. The formation of Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic in 1984 created a competitor for BA. The intense rivalry between British Airways and Virgin Atlantic culminated in the former being sued for libel in 1993, arising from claims and counterclaims over a ""dirty tricks"" campaign against Virgin. This campaign included allegations of poaching Virgin Atlantic customers, tampering with private files belonging to Virgin and undermining Virgin's reputation in the City. As a result of the case BA management apologised ""unreservedly"", and the company agreed to pay £110,000 damages to Virgin, £500,000 to"
"on 22 June 1984. The airline along with Virgin Holidays is controlled by a holding company, Virgin Atlantic Limited, which is 51% owned by the Virgin Group and 49% by Delta Air Lines. It is administratively separate from other Virgin-branded airlines. Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited both hold Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Type A Operating Licences (AOC numbers 534 and 2435 respectively), both of which permit these airlines, operating as Virgin Atlantic Airways, to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. Virgin Atlantic uses a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing"
"a result of a High Court action, this additional payment was received shortly before Fields' death in 1997. On 22 June 1984, Virgin Atlantic operated its inaugural scheduled service, flown between Gatwick and Newark using a leased Boeing 747-200 (registration ), christened ""Maiden Voyager"", which had been formerly operated by Aerolíneas Argentinas. From the onset, its activities were augmented by leveraging existing Virgin Group resources, such as tickets being sold at Virgin Megastores record shops. Part of Richard Branson's declared approach to business is to either succeed within the first year or exit the market; this ethos includes a one-year"
"reported to be considering axing its new Little Red domestic airline after suffering heavy losses. On 6 October 2014, Virgin Atlantic confirmed that Little Red services between London and Manchester would end in March 2015, and that the Scottish routes would be terminated in September 2015. Passengers used the routes from point to point as opposed to using it as a connection for longer haul Virgin Atlantic flights. The former BMI routes continued with rival airline British Airways. In June 2015, Richard Branson admitted that Virgin Atlantic would be in ""real trouble"" without strategic support from Delta Air Lines. With"
"Virgin Vacations Virgin Vacations is the inclusive tour arm of Virgin Atlantic featuring land components (hotel packages, tours, etc.) in combination with Virgin Atlantic air to London. It was initially established in 1994. In May 2002, Virgin Vacations became a separate company after partnering with other airline carriers traveling to various worldwide destinations. Virgin Vacations offers travel packages to Europe, Asia, the South Pacific, Central America, South America, and South Africa. Travellers have the option of choosing complete vacation packages or the opportunity to create their own personalized vacation. The current chairman of Virgin Vacations is Richard Branson. Virgin Vacations"
"the time, British Midland chairman Sir Michael Bishop owned a 50% share of the company. Between 1999 and 2004, Lufthansa sought to sell some or all of its share in the airline. Virgin Atlantic hoped to buy the shares to then merge both airlines, as BMI was already Virgin's preferred feeder airline into Heathrow. Virgin argued that the merger would have brought together two airlines with combined ticket sales of more than £2 billion, forming a powerful force in the aviation industry. BMI was believed to have initiated the talks after it began losing money following the 11 September 2001"
"cumulative losses between 2010 and 2013 amounting to £233 million, the future of the 30-year-old airline was in doubt. In the same month, the airline announced it would cut 500 jobs to establish a more efficient management structure. In July 2017, Virgin Atlantic announced its intention to form a joint venture with Air France-KLM. Under the agreement, Air France-KLM will acquire a 31% stake in Virgin Atlantic currently held by Virgin Group for £220 million subject to execution of definitive agreements and receipt of final shareholder, board, and regulatory approvals. Virgin Atlantic would retain its independence as a UK airline"
"Virgin Atlantic flights, on-board shops on Virgin Trains and also at Virgin Cinemas. The Gulliver's Kingdom chain of theme parks in the UK also sold post mix Virgin cola. This led Virgin Cola to agree a distribution deal with British supermarket retailer Tesco in 1994. From 1996, the 500 ml bottles were marketed as ""The Pammy"", as their curves were designed to resemble Pamela Anderson who was at the height of her popularity in the UK at the time. It went on to be launched in France, Belgium and South Africa. In 1998, Branson himself attended the USA launch of"
"parents and they from their parents, it is in our hands whether our children and their children inherit the same world.” Virgin Holidays Virgin Holidays Limited is a company within Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, headquartered in The VHQ in Crawley, West Sussex. The company was formed in 1985, a year after the successful launch of Virgin Atlantic Airways in June 1984. Initially selling seats on Virgin Atlantic routes to New York City, Miami and Orlando the company has grown to become one of the largest and most successful long-haul scheduled tour operators in the UK. The Managing Director is"
"Douglas DC-10. However, faced with the prospect of direct competition from rival operator PEOPLExpress, a post-deregulation ""no frills"" discount airline based at Newark, they decided to secure more funding before proceeding. Fields met British entrepreneur Richard Branson at a party in London during which he proposed a business partnership. After protracted and testy negotiations, Fields agreed to a reduced stake of 25% in the airline (which was renamed ""Virgin Atlantic"") and became its first chairman. Following disagreements over operations, Fields agreed to be bought out for an initial sum of £1 million with further payment on Virgin's first dividend. As"
"the airline reported a return to pre-tax profit of £14.4 million. In July 2017, Virgin Atlantic announced its intention to form a joint venture with Air France-KLM. Under the agreement, Air France-KLM will acquire a 31% stake in Virgin Atlantic currently held by Virgin Group for £220 million. The deal is scheduled to be completed in early 2019. Virgin Atlantic has its origins in a joint endeavour by Randolph Fields, an American-born lawyer, and Alan Hellary, a former chief pilot for British private airline Laker Airways; following the collapse of Laker Airways in 1982, Field and Hellary decided to establish"
"purchase of Brawn GP by Mercedes Benz, Branson invested in an 80% buyout of Manor Grand Prix, with the team being renamed Virgin Racing. In 2010, Virgin Hotels was launched under the Virgin Group. In February 2018, Branson announced the first Virgin hotel would open in Edinburgh. Branson and Tony Fernandes, owner of Air Asia and Lotus F1 Racing, had a bet for the 2010 F1 season where the losing team's boss should work on the winner's airline during a charity flight dressed as a stewardess. Fernandes escaped as the winner of the bet, as Lotus Racing ended tenth in"
"airlines ended. In late 2006, the airline again dismissed renewed speculation that Virgin Atlantic was preparing to make a bid to acquire full control of BMI, despite Sir Richard Branson repeating in a radio interview that such a merger would be a logical business move. In June 2007, SAS announced that it would sell its 20% stake to improve its own group profits. The airline commented that it was in early discussions with Lufthansa as a potential buyer. In October 2008 Lufthansa announced it would be taking over BMI by purchasing the 50% shareholding of Sir Michael Bishop to consolidate"