The Airbus A350: Designed with love, built for the future

Ahead of the delivery of our first A350 aircraft, we’ve been showcasing our gorgeous new cabin interiors to an audience of VIPs. It was a special night at our West Sussex base, attended by journalists, leaders from the travel industry and some of our most valued customers, alongside representatives from Airbus and Rolls Royce. They all enjoyed a tour of our new Airbus A350 experience which included VR and augmented reality displays, talks by the design team and even the opportunity to try their hand at opening our A350 training door. There was also a pop-up Clubhouse supplying food and drink and a spa as well as speeches from our CEO Shai Weiss and EVP Customer Mark Anderson. It was a great night and a fitting celebration of our new aircraft.

There are new  planes and  then there are  Virgin Atlantic new planes.

Here’s everything you need to know about our A350, the designs, the cabins and some of the people that made the magic happen.

Introducing The Loft

The Loft is a unique space for Upper Class customers to gather, chat, grab a drink or dine with friends. As well as enjoying luxe comfort and high end finishes, you can settle in with Bluetooth headphones and catch a show or watch the live tailcam.

• The Loft is the largest social space of any business class cabin at Virgin Atlantic. The space features a 32-inch touchscreen monitor and eight Bluetooth audio jacks so you can view content together. This is the first time we’ve offered Bluetooth in the social space.
• It provides space for eight customers – twice the capacity of the existing social spaces on board (five seated three standing).
• All of the chairs in The Loft feature seatbelts, a new feature for Virgin Atlantic, which means you can even continue to occupy The Loft during turbulence.
• The Loft was designed collaboratively by Virgin Atlantic and London based Factory Design, and is manufactured by AIM Altitude in Bournemouth

Introducing the A350 Upper Class suite – experience the evolution

The new Upper Class suite is the perfect retreat at 30,000 feet. Every seat faces towards the window and comes with enhanced privacy, plenty of space and storage, adjustable mood lighting, and an 18.5 inch screen – all with inimitable Virgin Atlantic style.

• The dreamiest, comfiest flying experience
• The brand new Upper Class suite has been exclusively designed for Virgin Atlantic in collaboration with our in-house design team
• Each aircraft offers 44 Upper Class suites in a 1-2-1 configuration
• The stylish suite features luxurious Claret leather with intricate, signature Virgin red stitching
• You can relax into a 44 inch seat pitch or recline into a fully flat bed
• Each suite features a cocktail table, shelving and a larger tray table to store personal items
• More privacy
• The cabin offers greater levels of privacy with higher walls around each suite and deployable privacy screens
• The 1-2- 1 configuration offers flexibility for leisure and business travellers to fly together
• Each Upper Class suite will offer our largest ever inflight entertainment screen at 18.5 inches
• For the first time customers can connect to the inflight entertainment via Bluetooth and enjoy wireless freedom on board. All Upper Class suites feature two USB sockets, and an AC socket adaptable for UK, US and EU plugs

A350 Premium – luxe leather seats and Premium perks

Rich, custom leather seats and high end finishes welcome you into the Premium cabin of the A350. You can enjoy a lot more storage for all your belongings and a generous 13.3 inch screen for the next generation entertainment system. Tailored for Virgin Atlantic, our Premium seat features a luxurious Claret leather seat with intricate stitch detailing, a pressed black wool cocktail tray and meal table, and an Oxblood red upper literature pocket interior.

• Four-way adjustable leather headrest
• 56 seats offering a generous 7 inch recline
• Full size bi-fold table
• More areas and pockets for storage including a side amenity pocket, as well as upper and lower seatback stowage
• USB ports
• 18.5 inch seat width
• 13.3 inch seatback screens – the biggest ever in Premium
• Intuitive new entertainment system, controllable by personal devices

A350 Economy – bespoke design for ultimate comfort

Our newest Economy seats are designed with bespoke woven fabrics inspired by fashion houses. Six-way adjustable headrests ensure comfort, and the 11.6 inch seatback screens with our next generation entertainment system are worth settling in for.

• 235 seats in a 3-3-3 configuration
• New upgraded seats in luxury woven fabrics and high quality wool blend
• 11.6 inch seatback screens
• Intuitive new entertainment system, controllable by personal devices
• USB ports in every seat
• Up to 17.4 inch seat width
• 31 inch Classic and Light seat pitch
• 34 inch Economy Delight seat pitch

A350 fleet information

In total, Virgin Atlantic will take delivery of 12 A350-1000 aircraft between 2019 and 2021, in an order worth $4.4bn (list price). The first four aircraft will be delivered in summer/autumn 2019, and further names and registrations will be revealed in due course.

The configuration

• 44 seats in Upper Class
• 56 seats in Premium
• 235 seats in Economy

Routes

Our new aircraft will fly from both London Heathrow and London Gatwick, with initial flights operating between London Heathrow and New York JFK

Typical operating characteristics

• The Airbus A350-1000 has a range up to 7950 nautical miles
• Overall length – 72.25m (237ft 0.5in)
• Wing Span – 64.75m (212ft 5.2in)
• Height – 17.08m (56ft 0.3in)
• Cargo capacity of 208.2m3, (7352 cubic feet)
• Maximum take-off weight of 308,000kg
• Typical cruising speed of M0.85

Additional customer benefits of the Airbus A350-1000

• Larger panoramic windows
• Spacious feel thanks to the illuminated dome ceiling design
• Cleaner air with an advanced filtration system
• Calmer cabin with quieter engines and air conditioning
• Improved cabin atmosphere with lower cabin altitude
• Improved storage with larger overhead bins