The Airbus A350-1000, Virgin Atlanticâs first for its fleet, is expected to fly from Toulouse to Hamburg tomorrow to be painted in its full livery.A tweet by Pablo Gonzalez indicates the new plane has received its engines and will shortly head to Virginâs paint shop:
Virginâs first A350 will also see the first of Virginâs new livery icons
Last month Virgin Atlantic revealed new liveries for its A350-1000 fleet. It has 12 of the Airbus craft on order with the first four to be delivered this year. Itâs expected that Virgin Atlanticâs first A350-1000 flight will be a London to New York route in September.
The planned A350-1000 livery sees Virgin Atlanticâs flying lady replaced by new icons which recognize Britainâs diversity. The new A350s will each have one of the five icons. We reported earlier this year on the new icons; the first A350 will feature âZadie.â
So far, the new icons will be exclusive to the A350, with Virginâs remaining fleet keeping the âVarga Girl,â an icon inspired by 1930-40s pinups, designed by Alberto Vargas.
Nikki Humphrey, Virginâs SVP of People, said at the time:
âBy introducing our new Flying Icons I hope it encourages people from all backgrounds to feel at home flying with us, but also working with us.â
The A350 will have anticipated new business class seats
Simple Flying attended Virgin Atlanticâs A350 launch on April 9th, learning more about the new aircraft for Virgin. It will have a newly designed, Upper Class business class suite, featuring a seat that turns into an 82-inch bed at the touch of a button.
Virginâs A350 will also have an area called âThe Loftâ, which will serve as a bar for Upper Class passengers during a flight. The Loft has a 32-inch touch screen which may display live events or even drone footage.
Virginâs A350-1000s will have 44 seats in Upper Class and 56 in premium economy. The economy cabin has 235 seats. Premium economy seats will be 18.5 inches wide, slightly narrower than Virgin Atlanticâs current premium economy. They will recline by seven inches and have a pitch of 38 inches. Standard economy seats will be 17.4 inches wide with a five-inch recline and a 31-inch pitch.
British Airways will also debut the A350 this year, with new business class seats
British Airways is also expecting its first A350 this summer after ordering 18 of the Airbus planes. It too announced new business class seats for the craft this March. Simple Flying have compared the two airlineâs planes. There are some differences between seating layout and size, and the Virgin Atlantic A350 will hold just four more passengers than British Airways' A350.
Our review found it an âoverall drawâ on the planes, both expected to be good additions for both carriers. British Airways will debut its A350 slightly later than Virgin Atlantic, on October 1st with a route to Toronto.