Virgin Atlantic recently announced planned changes to its fleet, as well as the premium options its passengers are demanding. Let’s see what’s happening with some major premium seating increases.
Boeing 787-9 fleet
The airline’s Boeing 787-9s will boast a full cabin redesign, introducing new seating in all three cabins.
The cabins will be inspired by the airline’s own A330neo design.
Both the Upper Class and Premium cabins will increase in size, offering 44 Upper Class seats and 56 Premium seats (up from 31 and 35, respectively). For the first time, the Retreat Suite will be introduced to the Boeing 787-9, with eight seats available in every Upper Class cabin.
The Economy cabin will be reduced from 192 to 127 seats, featuring existing Economy Delight, Classic, and Light products.
Virgin Atlantic will be rolling out the new layout from 2028 and expects it to be completed by 2030.
A330-900neo
From the 3rd Quarter of 2026, ten A330-900neo aircraft will be delivered configured with increased premium cabins, boasting 48 Upper Class, 56 Premium and 128 Economy seats. This compares to the current layout of 32 Upper Class, 46 Premium and 184 Economy Seats respectively.
Four more Retreat Suites will be added to the A330neo Upper Class cabin. These feature a 6ft 7” direct seat to a fully flat bed, a 27” touchscreen with Bluetooth connectivity, wireless charging and an ottoman that doubles up as an extra seat, allowing up to four people to comfortably dine, work or play.
Edging towards renewal
By 2028, Virgin Atlantic will operate a mixed fleet of 45 100% next-generation fuel-efficient aircraft, including 19 A330-900s, 12 A350-1000s, and 14 787-9s, with an average age of just under seven years.
Hospitality and amenities
Virgin Atlantic is investing in its Clubhouse (the lounge) product. Following the opening of the Los Angeles Clubhouse in March, a multi-million-pound investment will focus on the refurbishment of both the London Heathrow and New York JFK Clubhouses, updating the look and feel of both flagship spaces to provide an even greater sense of comfort.
In a new partnership, Votary will provide luxurious new skincare. Thoughtfully crafted to be kind to the skin and to the planet, guests will enjoy indulgent wellness from the moment they step onboard. The first stage of the partnership will see Votary products such as face creams and mists, multi balms and hand creams as part of the Upper Class amenity kit, due to be on board from the beginning of next year.
Connectivity and Digital Enablement
As noted by the airline, they plan to introduce free, streaming-quality Wi-Fi, with the airline partnering with SpaceX’s Starlink platform.
The installation across the airline’s entire fleet of Airbus A330neos, A350s and Boeing 787s will begin in Q3 2026 and be completed by the end of 2027.
Supporting the passenger experience, Virgin Atlantic will release a new app in December 2025, which will integrate both airline and holiday journeys into one intuitive platform. The app is designed to be a personal travel companion from booking to boarding and beyond. The airline will integrate AI engines from OpenAI and Tomoro.ai, integrating an advanced voice mode through the Realtime API to offer passenger assistance.
Loyalty
Virgin Atlantic continues to reward loyalty, now introducing recognition for guests with multi-year loyalty who may not travel enough for tier status progression. This follows previous innovations like reward flights counting towards status, non-expiring points, and Unlimited Availability of reward seats in 2024.
Further details are to follow for the Flying Club Changes
In Quotes
Shai Weiss, CEO, Virgin Atlantic, commented;
“In the last four decades, we’ve evolved from a challenger to a leader and a premium, long-haul flag carrier. We exist to make our customers smile, it’s that simple – obsessing over finding new ways to delight our guests, delivered by our amazing people, on our journey to become the most loved travel company. We are investing billions to fly the youngest fleet across the Atlantic; the first UK airline to have free, streaming quality, fleet-wide Wi-Fi; more premium cabins and a full retrofit of the 787 fleet; alongside a new app featuring the world of Virgin Atlantic in your pocket, all delivered by our amazing teams. The best is yet to come.”
Siobhan Fitzpatrick, CXO, Virgin Atlantic, commented;
“Our announcements today provide a snapshot into the future of how we care, serve, and delight every single one of our guests. Every new product, partnership and platform unveiled has been shaped by guest insight and fuelled by our people’s ingenuity. We understand who our guests are and everything we do begins with them, as we use our insights to create thoughtful experiences that feel brilliantly different at every opportunity.”
A Major Premium Play
It seems that Virgin Atlantic wants premium bottom on seats – and as we know, business and premium economy (Upper Class and Premium) are the cabins that drive revenue in the cabin, with Economy Class sometimes being an afterthought.
In the past, we’ve seen a few reconfigurations that have focused on the premium loadout from other airlines (with United Airlines and American Airlines trying this out), which work for certain markets (such as London – East Coast/Midwest North America or London – India routes). Given that this is well within the range of both the A330neo and Boeing 787 ranges, Virgin Atlantic will be looking for customers to fill these seats.
Supporting this will be upgraded lounge, app and connectivity experiences. These should help the passenger journey, provided they’re implemented well.
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