The Beginning
In early 1984 Richard Branson was contacted by an Anglo-American lawyer
with a proposal for involvement in a new airline called British Atlantic. Richard
decided it was time for Virgin to diversify... The airline was renamed Virgin
Atlantic Airways and on June 22nd 1984 Virgin's inaugural flight to Newark
took off. The airline's policy was simple 'to provide all classes of traveller
with the highest quality travel at the lowest cost' and this is a philosophy
that is still in place today.
Following the creation of the airline, Virgin Holidays was started in
1985. It became operational in January 1986 with a view to selling seats on the
new Virgin Atlantic routes to New York, Orlando and Miami.
Since Virgin Holidays was founded it has gone from strength
to strength. It now offers holidays to mainland USA, Canada, the Caribbean,
the Far East, South Africa, the Middle East, Indian Ocean, Mauritius, New Zealand
and Australia plus a well-established ski programme. Virgin Holidays has become
the largest and most successful transatlantic tour operator, holding the position
of the market leader to the USA and Florida.
The Virgin Atlantic routes used are:
- Gatwick to Orlando, Las Vegas, Grenada, Tobago, St Lucia,
Antigua, Barbados, Cuba, Jamaica and Nassau.
- Heathrow to New York (Newark and JFK), Miami, Boston, Los
Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Cape Town,
Shanghai, Sydney, Delhi, Mumbai and Dubai.
- Manchester to Orlando and St Lucia.
Frequent Virgin Club
In the first year of operation Virgin Holidays carried just over 14,000
passengers. Over the last few years, Virgin Holidays has carried in
excess of 300,000 passengers each year. A clear indication of the high
passenger loyalty and the enviable level of repeat business that Virgin
Holidays receives, can be seen in the Frequent
Virgin Club.
The Club is Virgin Holidays' loyalty programme, and membership
currently stands at more than 110,000 members.
Thinking of the future
At Virgin Holidays we want to provide you with the best holiday
possible, both now and in the future. We actively support sustainable tourism
and want to do our best to ensure that your children and their children are
able to enjoy a holiday as beautiful and unspoilt as the ones we offer you
today. You can find out more about how we’re doing this.
The 21st Century will see the continued expansion and growth of Virgin
Holidays to cover even more destinations throughout the world.