Virgin Atlantic Nets 26 Percent Rise in Business Class Travel

UK´s Virgin Atlantic released traffic figures this week which showed there´s seen a 26 percent hike in business class travelers in the course of its last financial year.

The increase is attributed to three factors; a 5 percent increase in available seats, following the delivery of new aircraft and the launch of new services to destinations like Sydney, Delhi and Las Vegas; a partial recovery in the business travel market, and market share shift to Virgin Atlantic from rival airlines following the launch and roll out of the award-winning Upper Class Suite.

During the 12 months ending February 2005, the airline carried 352,095 Upper Class passengers, up from 279,714 in the previous 12 months. This gives Virgin Atlantic an Upper Class load factor of 56 percent, the highest enjoyed by the airline since 2000.

The Upper Class Suite was launched in November 2003 and is now available on all Virgin Atlantic´s Boeing 747-400 aircraft and Airbus 340-600 aircraft. It is now being fitted onto the airline´s A340-300 aircraft.

The Upper Class Suite is now available on all flights to New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Las Vegas, Orlando and the Caribbean (including the new services to Havana and Nassau).