Virgin debut Airbus A330 at Gatwick
30.04.11
Virgin Atlantic will launch an Airbus A330 aircraft from Gatwick this weekend, the first time the airline has operated this aircraft type from its Gatwick base. Holidaymakers will take to the skies on the plane tomorrow (May 1) on its route to Orlando, Florida.
The A330 is a long range twin engine aircraft and is the most efficient aircraft in its class today. It will use 15% less fuel per seat than the airline’s A340-300 aircraft, helping deliver Virgin’s commitment to flying a lower carbon fleet, as well as significant cost savings given current sky high fuel costs.
It is the second A330 aircraft to join the fleet and is part of a $2.2bn order of 10 new A330s that will be delivered over the next two years, allowing the airline to take more passengers to key markets including US East Coast, East and West Africa, the Middle East and India. The first A330 launched on April 2 from Manchester to Orlando.
The new planes feature a revolutionary new in-flight entertainment system by Panasonic. The new cutting edge system uses the latest touch screen technology that allows passengers to scroll and swipe through over 300 hours of content.
The economy seat installed on the A330 aircraft is also a new design. The new seat features an articulated seat-pan which moves in-line with the backrest when in the reclined position leading to increase passenger comfort, as well as a backrest with a high pivot that provides extra room at the knee area when in the recline position.
Later this year Virgin Atlantic passengers flying on the A330 will be able to send and receive emails and texts on their Blackberries, handheld PDAs and other mobile devices.
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