British Travel Awards 2008: Virgin Atlantic flies high
10 Nov 2008
Leading long-haul airline, Virgin Atlantic, has scooped up a host of awards at the British Travel Awards 2008. Virgin picked up awards as Best Airline Business Class, Best Airline Economy Class and Best Scheduled Airline Long Haul.
Steve Ridgway, chief executive, Virgin Atlantic, said: "This is an amazing achievement. The travellers that voted clearly love flying with us whether they are in upper class or economy which is a tribute to our people, our innovative products and high standards in customer service.''
Virgin Atlantic recently announced an increase in its services to the Far East with the launch of a second daily service between London Heathrow and Hong Kong. The new daily flights which will be launched from 4 December this year, will not only double the airline's capacity to the destination, but also offer passengers more choice and flexibility when travelling to the Far East and Australia.
Meanwhile, Virgin has also reported an 11% increase in business travellers from Heathrow over the last 12 months. It says this was almost certainly because of the success of the airline's Upper Class Wing - the award winning private check in and security channel at T3.
It said that the speed at which passengers were being screened through security had enabled Virgin Atlantic to introduce a 40-minute minimum check in time for its Upper Class passengers. This offers customers the fastest journey through an airport in the UK – quicker even than T5.
The airline also said it was fairly well cushioned against the current market downturn. In the first six months of its financial year (March – August 2008), it along with its tour operator arm Virgin Holidays, saw revenues increase by 15% from £1.19billion to £1.37billion. Pretax profits rose from £43million to £72million.
Cash in the bank increased to £688m at the end of the first half of the year (2008/09), compared with £599m at the end of the last financial year (2007/08).
Virgin Atlantic currently flies to 30 destinations worldwide from its award-winning new Terminal 3 at Heathrow Airport, and from the South Terminal at London's Gatwick Airport. It serves New Delhi and Mumbai on the sub-continent.