VIRGIN ATLANTIC SIGNS DEAL WITH AIRBUS FOR UP TO 12 A3XX

Virgin Atlantic today announced that it has signed an agreement worth in excess of $3.8 billion (£2.6 billion) with Airbus Industrie to purchase six A3XX aircraft, with an option for a further six, for delivery from 2006.

The airline was among the first to endorse the A3XX aircraft and its delivery will be instrumental in fulfilling Virgin’s plans for continued growth through adding new destinations to its route network and increasing frequencies and capacity to existing destinations. The new aircraft will also contribute to the upgrade of the airline’s fleet and make it one of the youngest in world aviation.

Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Atlantic, commented:

“Virgin Atlantic’s strategy is to maintain our recent spectacular growth and these new aircraft will play a large part in helping us to expand our existing services and add new routes. As other carriers are shrinking in size and cutting their networks Virgin Atlantic will be offering passengers more seats on more services to more destinations.

“I am incredibly excited about the opportunities these aircraft will bring – our reputation has been built on innovation and the A3XX will give us the opportunity to create a new flying experience for our passengers.

“We are currently looking at a number of new service and product ideas. We will be making final decisions in the next year or two but among the options are:

Leisure areas for economy passengers including gyms, bars and games arcades to enable passengers to spend more time out of their seats

· More legroom – at least 34 inches throughout economy class in addition to the 38 inches already available in Premium Economy

· Play areas for children

· Private cabins for business passengers

· Business centres with meeting areas and video conferencing

· Duty free shops and food outlets

· Showers and separate male and female toilets

· Extended in-flight beauty therapy areas

“Initially I would expect these giants of the skies to operate to the US and the Far East but faced with a rising demand from our passengers and no prospects at present of more slots at the busiest airports I’m sure we’ll see these wonderful new planes flying all over the world.”

Noel Forgeard, Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Industrie expressed the consortium’s great satisfaction at Virgin Atlantic’s decision;

“We are extremely honoured that Virgin Atlantic has decided to become the British launch customer for the A3XX. With 50 orders and many more options from quality customers around the world, Airbus is now in a strong position to launch production of the A3XX.”

The A3XX will be configured in Virgin’s three class layout – Upper Class, Premium Economy and Economy and is expected to carry around 555 passengers. Based on an entirely new design integrating the most advanced technologies, Airbus Industrie claims that the A3XX will offer 20 per cent lower seat operating costs compared to the Boeing 747-400, while providing up to 40 per cent more seats and up to 10 -15 per cent more range.

Today’s order is in line with Virgin Atlantic’s policy of keeping to a four-engined fleet on its long-haul, trans-oceanic routes. Commenting on this Richard Branson said:

“Although two-engined planes are safe we have found that our passengers, our staff and our pilots have a considerable preference for four engines. We therefore believe it is worth the extra cost to Virgin Atlantic to continue to invest solely in four-engined planes for our long distance routes.”

Virgin Atlantic currently flies to 20 destinations with a fleet of 32 aircraft. Last month the airline signed an agreement with Boeing for five new Boeing 747-400 aircraft in a deal worth in excess of $800 million. This followed a deal, also with Boeing, earlier in the year for delivery of two more new 747-400s. Virgin Atlantic also has ten ultra long range high capacity A340-600s on order with options for a further eight due to enter service from 2002.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC FLEET DETAILS