Virgin Atlantic have unveiled its Airbus A330-900neo and how it will look. Let us take a dive into the PR and put some thoughts together on the passenger experience.
Let’s go through some of the updates in the cabin and explore the new features.
Upper Class
Upper Class (the airlines business class equivalent will offer The Retreat Suite, offering and consists of two exclusive suites at the front of the cabin. This airline’s most spacious suite yet, comprising a 6ft7” direct seat to a fully flat bed and a 27” touchscreen with Bluetooth connectivity and wireless charging. With each suite boasting an ottoman that doubles up as an extra seat, up to four people can comfortably dine, chat or play games in their own private social space. Customers can enjoy an intimate dinner or settle in comfort to watch a film.
In addition to The Retreat Suite, the A330neo will offer 30 brand new Upper Class suites. The fully forward-facing suite offers more space and storage alongside a fully closing privacy door. They will feature passenger-controlled mood lighting, a 17.3” touchscreen TV and a mirror.
Meanwhile, the A330neo will also gain a social space- The Loft as launched on the A350.. . In an evolution of design from the Airbus A350, it consists of space for eight people, with four seats, allowing guests to sit and chat or enjoy refreshments from the new self-service fridge and drinks dispenser.
Customers can also connect Bluetooth headphones to the dual panoramic 27” touchscreens or utilise the wireless charging facilities for their devices.
Virgin Atlantic’s in-house design team worked in collaboration with Factorydesign to develop the Retreat Suite, Upper Class Suite and The Loft.
Premium
The Premium cabin will consist of 46 seats on the A330neo.
The seats will be dressed in burgundy leather. Meanwhile, in comfort terms, the seat will retain 38” with a calf rest at each seat. In terms of connectivity, a 13.3” touchscreen with Bluetooth audio will be provisioned. The airline is also offering it’s Premium customers an in-seat wireless charging pad.
Economy
Finally, down the back of the aircraft, there are two types of economy seats with different pitches depending on where in the cabin you site.
There will be 28 Economy Delight seats, which offer an increased 34” seat pitch as well as 156 Economy Classic seats, providing a 31” pitch.
The IFE screens will again be 13.3″ touchscreen units, with Bluetooth audio connectivity to connect headphones, with customers able to use their phone as a controller. There’s also plenty of storage, plus AC power and USB ports to keep gadgets powered up.
Connectivity
Onboard Wi-Fi will be provisioned by ViaSat on the Airbus A330-900neo, to allow high-quality, full video streaming, browsing, messaging, and social media scrolling through its satellite network capacity.
The Viasat IFC equipment will be factory-installed on the 16 new Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330-900s at the Airbus Center of Excellence production site in Toulouse, France, ensuring in-flight internet service is available on each aircraft upon delivery.
Connectivity will be enabled by connecting passenger devices directly to Viasat’s network of owned and partner Ka-band satellites. Viasat’s onboard equipment on Virgin Atlantic’s new aircraft is designed to be forward-compatible with the Company’s next-generation satellite constellation, ViaSat-3, offering Virgin Atlantic additional capacity and expanded global coverage.
First Deployment
Boston will be the first destination to be operated by Virgin Atlantic A330-900neo in early October. Tickets will go on sale later this month.
From September 2022, the airline will take delivery of three aircraft, with the remaining deliveries following between 2023 and 2026.
In Quotes
Corneel Koster, Chief Customer and Operating Officer at Virgin Atlantic commented;
When it comes to innovating for our customers, we never stand still. Our desire to create memorable experiences means we’ll continue to imagine with fresh ideas. We care about every detail of the cabin design and every step of our customer’s journey. We’re proud to unveil our state of the art A330neo and show the evolution of our customer experience, with each of our customers receiving a premium experience regardless of the cabin they travel in. They’ll be better connected with their fellow travellers and our amazing crew in the air, and with their friends and family on the ground.
“The A330neo plays a significant role in our multi billion dollar fleet transformation, demonstrating our commitment to the planet. We know the most impactful thing we can do as an airline is to fly the cleanest, greenest, youngest fleet possible and the A330neo is integral to achieving this goal. It’s truly a plane for the future.”
Don Buchman, Viasat’s vice president and general manager, Commercial Aviation, added,
“We’re thrilled that Virgin Atlantic – an airline with innovation and customer service at its core — has chosen Viasat as its IFC partner on its new Airbus aircraft. We have a strong history of delivering quality IFC on long-haul flights and look forward to bringing our technology and service capabilities to Virgin Atlantic and its customers.”
A neo beginning
Each aircraft type Virgin Atlantic has had has given the chance for the airline to innovate in the cabin – and they’ve taken advantage of this each time.
This time they’ve innovated with The Retreat, as well as bringing the classical door on the business class seat (because we all know the law by now – business class seats must have doors installed for privacy).
Across the cabin, there are innovations too, with Bluetooth connectivity for audio (a blessing for those who prefer using their headphones, rather than using the provided ones by the airline), as well as good quality IFE screens to consume content on.
Innovation doesn’t need to be big-bang – it can be done with thoughtful touches to improve the passenger experience.
We’ll have to see how this comes together in the flesh when the first Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330-900neo takes to the air – but for the passenger in any class – it’s looking like an improvement in the sky.
Images: Virgin Altantic.
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