Virgin Atlantic welcomes new A330-200s to fleet

Virgin Atlantic has received the first of four Airbus A330-200s it is acquiring from Air Berlin. This week the airline unveiled the new aircraft - called ‘Daydream Believer’, which arrived into Gatwick for finishing touches before it enters into service in March. 

Over the next few weeks Virgin will receive two more aircraft - ‘Scarlett O’Hara’ (G-VWND) and ‘Honky Tonk Woman’ (G-VMIK) - followed by Strawberry Fields (G-VLNM), which will be joining in spring 2018. 

In celebration of the arrival of these new aircraft, Virgin Atlantic created a special time-lapse video of their transformation into Virgin Atlantic livery.

The A330-200s have a total of 287 seats, with 19 fully flat beds in Upper Class. The planes are Wi-Fi enabled so passengers can surf the Internet during their flight and will operate flights from Manchester to New York, Boston, San Francisco and Barbados. 

Phil Maher, executive vice president, operations, Virgin Atlantic, said: “We’re thrilled to be welcoming four A330-200s to the Virgin Atlantic fleet this March. 

“These aircraft will add resilience to our flying programme in light of an industry wide shortage of Trent 1000 engines used on our Boeing 787 aircraft.”

Virgin Atlantic says the Upper Class cabin introduces "three new styles of seating for customers to choose from", as well as extra touches such as a barista style coffee menu and free Wi-Fi messaging.

The Economy cabin offers 222 seats, and the carrier will be investing in a premium economy cabin for each aircraft, to be fitted towards the end of the year.