New Virgin Atlantic commercial chief says trade ‘huge part’ of carrier’s future

Virgin Atlantic’s new chief commercial officer has pledged the carrier’s continued commitment to the trade under his stewardship, as he revealed UK leisure sales through agents were up 14% in January.

Speaking at a lunch for key partners, Dave Geer said: “Our partnership with the trade is critical for Virgin Atlantic and it will remain a huge part of our future.”

He said agents had a huge opportunity to capitalise on developments at the airline, such as the delivery of more Airbus A330neos – more fuel-efficient aircraft with larger premium cabins, six Retreat Suites, 48 Upper Class and 56 Premium seats.

“We’re going to have a lot more of these aircraft coming online and we’re rolling out high-speed Starlink WiFi across the fleet,” said Geer. “It’s an absolute gamechanger – it will offer free, streaming-quality, unlimited WiFi – it’s probably a better connection than you have at home.”

He added: “There’s also a bunch of work happening on our Clubhouse at Heathrow to make it even better. And the same will be happening at JFK in New York. This should make flying with Virgin Atlantic an even better experience than it already is today.”

Geer also pointed to opportunities to capitalise on two new routes launching this year – Heathrow to Seoul on March 29, using Boeing 787 Dreamliners, and a non-stop service from Heathrow to Phuket in Thailand, three times a week, starting in October.

It is also adding more flights from Manchester and Edinburgh to destinations including Orlando and the Caribbean this winter.