articles

November 29, 2000

Virgin Atlantic "Turns Over a New Leaf" -- in Canadian Skies

Sir Richard Branson lands in a helicopter at Harbourfront today. Photo by Jim Nielson.

by Barbara Fletcher

Arriving today at noon in a bright red helicopter, Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Mega-man, landed at Harbourfront in skates and a red jersey to announce the launch of Virgin Atlantic Airways in Toronto.

Starting in June 2001 Virgin Atlantic will be offering daily scheduled non-stop flights between Toronto Pearson and London Gatwick airports. Early in January, flight reservations will be accepted via ticketing agencies and virgin.com.

Toronto will be Virgin's first Canadian route and its eleventh North American gateway.

Sir Richard Branson laces up and plays with a girls hockey team at Harbourfront Centre. Photo by Jim Nielson.

After lacing up his skates and shooting a few pucks on the ice at the Harbourfront Centre, Sir Richard gave a press conference to announce that the flights will be a "classy, quality product", offering features such as limousine service, Nintendo games, mobile phone forwarding to a customer's seat, personal TVs, in-flight massages and manicures, and "cabin crew that actually smiles at their customers."

Kids can expect ice cream during movies and a backpack with toys and snacks.

Features in the planning stages include Internet access to every seat, exercise videos, DVD-quality films, and private cabins.

There will be three classes of seating available: upper class, premium economy class, and economy class. Premium economy is considered to be better than most airlines' business class.

Sir Richard Branson at the Harbourfront press conference. Photo by Jim Nielson.

When questioned about the average price of tickets, Sir Richard hesitated, stating that Virgin Atlantic is "quality-driven" as opposed to price-driven, and that it will be cheaper to fly to London because of the competition that Virgin Airways will bring to the industry.

The average ticket price for a round-trip Executive First flight to London Heathrow from Toronto via Air Canada is $4700. For a Best Buy ticket, the average round-trip fare is $1300.

With the disappearance of Canadian Airlines, Virgin Atlantic saw the opportunity in Toronto as "too big to ignore."

Air Canada and British Airways "will find out what true competition is all about," Sir Richard said.

It was added that Virgin Atlantic has no intention of driving Air Canada out of business, and that they will be used for transfers from flights landing in Toronto.

Sir Richard gets kissed. Photo by Jim Nielson.

Once settled into Terminal 3 at Pearson International airport, Virgin Atlantic will consider other Canadian cities -- Vancouver being at the top of the list. Branson also expressed interest in offering Canadian domestic flights -- such as those now offered by Virgin Blue in Australia -- if this becomes permissable through Canadian legislation.

Virgin Atlantic will launch their ad campaign early in the New Year in hopes of drumming up business for the summer.

The company has been flying since 1985, and is part of Branson's economic empire that includes record (V2 Music), mobile, train, holiday, financial, utility, book, cosmetic, online, and other products and services.

In the future Virgin plans to bring more Virgin MegaStore record stores, a record company, and possibly mobile phone service to Canada.

Related reading:
Virgin to Launch Toronto - London Service -- Virgin Atlantic press release
Virgin Atlantic Job Opportunities in Toronto -- Virgin Atlantic press release