BBC WORLD FLYING HIGH WITH VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS

BBC World, the BBC's 24-hour international news and information channel, is now available as part of the inflight entertainment for all Virgin Atlantic Airways flights worldwide. From May 1st, 2001, the channel's daily and weekly news bulletin packages have featured on all services, offering passengers a global news agenda for a global audience.

Lysette Gauna, Head of Media, Virgin Atlantic said: "We are delighted to be able to introduce news from BBC World as part of our award winning inflight entertainment. Virgin Atlantic's passengers now know that they can catch up with the highest quality of news from all over the world wherever they are flying. We feel that BBC World can be relied on to keep our flyers informed of all the latest developments, making sense of the issues that affect us all."

Bill Mould, Head of Travel Distribution, BBC World said: "It gives us great pleasure to be chosen as Virgin Atlantic's inflight news channel. Such a major success reflects the channel's increasing and ongoing appeal to international business decision makers as they travel the globe. Our extensive hotel and airline distribution means travellers can get close to the news whenever they choose."

Notes:

BBC World is the BBC's 24-hour international news and information channel available in 178 million homes (79 million 24-hour homes) in 200 countries and territories worldwide. BBC World provides news, business, weather and sport 24-hours a day, plus the best of the BBC's current affairs, documentary and lifestyle programming. BBC World is a commercial channel funded entirely by subscriptions and advertising revenue, wholly owned by BBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial arm.

The channel is now carried on many airlines, including British Midland, KLM, SAS and United Airlines. It is also available in over 700,000 hotel rooms worldwide.

Virgin Atlantic Airways - Since it was founded in 1984, Virgin Atlantic Airways has become Britain's second largest long haul carrier serving the world's major cities. Now based at both London's Gatwick and Heathrow airports, it operates long haul services to twenty destinations world-wide as far apart as Las Vegas and Shanghai. The airline has launched services to Toronto and Lagos this summer.

Virgin Atlantic has enjoyed huge popularity, winning top business, consumer and trade awards from around the world. The airline has pioneered a range of innovations setting new standards of service, which its competitors have subsequently sought to follow. Despite Virgin Atlantic's growth the service still remains customer driven with an emphasis on value for money, quality, fun and innovation