When Virgin Atlantic’s next Airbus A350 aircraft arrives later this year it will sport a slick new interior, with changes including an increased number of seats in economy, alongside a cool new social space for Upper-Class customers.
‘The Booth’ is the latest innovation in Virgin Atlantic’s industry-leading social spaces and is exclusively available to customers travelling to sunny leisure destinations on-board the A350.
Tucked away in the Upper-Class cabin, The Booth aspires to create a cosy corner, providing comfy lounge-style seating for two, separated by a single leaf table.
The styling and finishes, which include luxurious leather seats and almond gold highlights, are designed to be consistent with the award-winning Loft space featured across Virgin Atlantic’s mainline A350 fleet.
The Booth itself is encapsulated by two large 27” touch screen monitors, allowing travellers a window into fully immersive experiences. The content of the monitors will be continuously updated, tailored to the route and time of day, meaning that the look and feel of The Booth will evolve over time.
Initial content will include a digital art gallery featuring up and coming artists and a tail and belly cam of the aircraft. Nice.
Additionally, there are two Bluetooth audio jacks, meaning customers can connect headsets to the monitor’s audio to watch the same content together.
Customers travelling between Heathrow and Orlando are planned to be the first to experience the newest aircraft, with the first flight currently scheduled for December 2021.
Other leisure destinations, including Barbados, will receive the new aircraft later in 2022.
The new seat configuration offers 397 seats in total, 16 Upper-Class suites, 56 Premium seats and 325 in Economy.
Within the economy cabin, 45 seats will be Economy Delight, offering customers extra legroom as well as priority boarding and advanced seat selection.
Alongside The Booth, the A350 features the airline’s latest Upper-Class suite design, which includes all window facing seats with a 44” pitch and fully flat 82” bed.
Every cabin has the largest entertainment screens available on any Virgin Atlantic aircraft.
Say hello to ‘The Loft’ in Upper-Class on Virgin Atlantic’s new A350’s
“We’re famous for our onboard social spaces and the introduction of The Booth elevates the customer proposition for our leisure travellers to new heights. We love creating brilliantly different experiences, which is why we’re always evolving our ideas to offer something different and exciting in the air and on the ground,” said Corneel Koster, Virgin Atlantic’s Chief Customer and Operations Officer.“
“I’m delighted that we’ve curated The Booth specifically for our customers jetting off on holiday to our sunny destinations, such as Orlando, offering a truly stylish start to their trips,” he said.
The first aircraft in Virgin Atlantic’s new Airbus A350 leisure fleet will be G-VEVE, named Fearless Lady, after Sir Richard Branson’s late mother Eve who passed away last year after contracting COVID-19 at the age of 96.
Lady Emmeline (G-VLIB), which is inspired by the leader of the women’s suffrage movement Emmeline Pankhurst, will follow in April with the final three aircraft set to be delivered by June 2023.
In a nod to more sustainable aviation, all of Virgin Atlantic’s Airbus A350s are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, designed to be 30% more fuel and carbon-efficient than the Boeing 747s they replaced and are expected to reduce airport noise footprint by more than half.
Find out more: www.virginatlantic.com
