Virgin Atlantic has finally taken delivery of its first A330-900neo, an Airbus aircraft that will replace its A330-300s.
Registered G-VJAZ, the A330neo delivered by Airbus belongs to Air Lease Corporation (ALC) and is one of six jets that the company will lease to Virgin.
The British carrier also purchased seven A330neos directly from Airbus and still has an option to purchase three more planes.
Virgin has configured its A330-900neo with 262 seats in three classes, including 32 upper-class seats with privacy doors, in addition to the debut Retreat Suite, with two available seats.
Virgin’s first A330neo flight will be between London and Boston, initially set to debut on October 27.
The airline’s fleet is divided between Airbus and Boeing planes. There are 10 A330-300s and nine A350-1000s, in addition to 17 Boeing 787-9s.
Virgin, however, was once a major operator of the 747, with which it debuted its services in 1984. After flying 747-100 and 747-200 models, the company had a considerable amount of 747-400s, whose last flight took place in March 2020, to rescue passengers who were in Los Angeles during the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
