The A330-900 will replace the A330-300, offering greater fuel efficiency while halving the noise footprint compared with the outgoing model. Virgin hopes to debut the aircraft on its Heathrow-Boston route in October.
It has 16 A330s on order in total, with three due to be delivered this year and another in February 2023. The full run will be delivered by 2026.
"Adding aircraft to our fleet is fantastic because it shows we’re growing," said chief customer and operations officer Corneel Koster, speaking to TTG at the launch of the A330-900 in London on Tuesday. "We’re growing our routes, we’re growing our network."
Virgin launched a four-times-weekly Heathrow-Austin service in May, which will increase to daily in spring 2023, while a daily Heathrow-Tampa service will take off in early-November.
"We will keep looking for opportunities," said Koster. "These aircraft replace the A330-300s, but by overlapping and phasing those out a bit more slowly, we can offer growth. We’re modernising and growing at the same time. I think there will be exciting opportunities ahead.
"We’ve had a good look at our network because these aircraft do have the range to cover the entire United States. Boston is our launch route. After that, you’ll probably see it [the A330-900] on other US destinations before we expand from there. You’re going to see a lot of these in our fleet. It’s a very positive step for Virgin Atlantic."
Koster added he was excited by the sustainability improvements brought by the A330-900. "It’s so much more sustainable – 11% less fuel burn than an A330-300 and 50% less noise, which is very useful for people who live near Heathrow or other airports," said Koster.
"We have the youngest, greenest, most sustainable fleet flying transatlantic – our average aircraft age is now less than seven years. Every new aircraft is an opportunity to look at what we do and to lift and elevate the experience for customers."
Koster also touched on the issues airlines are facing at Heathrow after the airport imposed a two-month cap on capacity, stating it can’t currently cope with any more passengers.
"The end-to-end [flying] experience isn’t what it should be," said Koster. "It looks like something will need to be done at Heathrow in the coming days and weeks. We will work with Heathrow to see what that is. We don’t feel we should give up this summer."
