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Virgin Atlantic today announced its biggest ever investment in its business class product, as it pledged £100 million to enhance its Upper Class offering. The long haul airline is seeking to increase its share of the business traveller market through a three year programme of new product and service developments both on the ground and in the air, starting this spring.



The roll-out will include a new cutting edge upper class cabin including an enhanced seat, a futuristic bar, and many other cabin updates to give passengers a unique flying experience.

Upper Class customers will also enjoy a new 'fine dining' onboard experience with customised menus, new crockery and enhanced service.



The new Upper Class launch will commence on its London to New York JFK morning flight before rolling out across all aircraft joining Virgin Atlantic's Heathrow fleet over the next three years. The onboard enhancements to the initial New York service will be instantly supported by a new multi million pound Clubhouse at the John F Kennedy airport, designed to further enhance its transatlantic customers' experience.



Making the announcement ahead of this week’s Business Travel Show, Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive Steve Ridgway said:



"Virgin Atlantic is famous for its pioneering product, and this investment will again establish our position as the leader in airline innovation and customer experience. We know that two thirds of our transatlantic travellers already believe we offer a superior business class experience to our rivals but that is no reason to stop reaching for the skies.



"We have managed to grow our customer numbers across the Atlantic in the face of increased capacity and bigger airline alliances. We are confident that this new programme of investment will enable us to continue to take market share as the product becomes more widely available across the fleet."



In developing its new Upper Class products, Virgin Atlantic recruited groups of its most frequent fliers to test the concepts and feed into their development --even allowing some to try out the beds with an overnight stay in the airline's test facility.



Its existing Upper Class product continues to be popular, with load factors showing a five per cent recovery since the height of the recession in 2009. Transatlantic business class bookings have started strongly for the airline in 2012, with a double digit growth in demand for New York.



Corporate clients from whom there has been a notable increase in Upper Class travel are the accountancy, retail and entertainment industries.



The new Upper Class cabin will be launched on Virgin Atlantic's new Airbus A330-300 aircraft, due for delivery later in the spring as part of a $2.2bn aircraft investment programme.





ENDS