Virgin Atlantic is an Airline, which was initiated in 1984 by Sir Richard Branson. It’s headquarter is in Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom. Its operating bases are London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow and Manchester. It operates seasonal flights from Belfast and Glasgow. Virgin Atlantic operates forty aircrafts to thirty destinations in North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Asia from main bases. It uses a mixed fleet of Boeing wide-body aircraft and Airbus. The Virgin Atlantic Aircraft has three cabins, which are: Economy, Premium Economy and Upper Class. In 2016, its operating income was £153.2 million and Revenue was £2,689 million.
They managed to transform their product into an experience. Some of the competitive advantages of Virgin Atlantic over other Airlines are:
1. Fleet Size- Virgin Atlantic’s fleet matrix tells us that they have different types of aircrafts; ten Airbus A330, eight Airbus A340, eight Boeing 747 and fourteen Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
2. Partner and Alliance– Virgin Atlantic is forming partnerships or alliances with Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines, which eliminating competition and rivalry among these competitors.
3. Use of Novel Technologies- Virgin Atlantic invested in innovation to distinguish the airlines, Conchango, IT Company, guaranteed for an innovation solution for a smooth take-off for multi-channel booking system build on scalable architecture of e-business.
4. New Marketing Trends- The large number of customer both internationally and nationally, has attracted by Virgin Airlines because keep working on new marketing trends and global advertising, which eventually rises the effectiveness of advertisement.
5. Good Brand Reputation- It has developed a really good image and it is in competition with other higher Airlines like British Airlines. In terms of product differentiation and uniqueness as compared to its competitors, Virgin Atlantic is the strongest brand. They always tried to understand their passengers’ needs and go beyond their expectations.
6. Code-sharing Relationships- Virgin Atlantic Airways expands its network via code-sharing relationships with carriers like All Nippon, US Airways and Australian- based sister company “Virgin Blue.” It allows airlines to offer potential passengers more destinations through selling tickets on one another’s flights.
7. Extensive Services- It provides one of the biggest tour operators in United Kingdom. It also initiates “must ride program” for its customers, which ensures services for cargo. The goal of Virgin Atlantic is to provide security, safety and consistent delivery in everything they do to their customers. They also have fashion show and jazz band for those passengers who are music and fashion lover, games for those who like entertainment, library for book readers and massages centers for those who want to relax.
8. Three cabins of Virgin Atlantic’s Aircraft– Its economy’s class aims to give maximum value for money and offers space-saving and contoured seats. Except from the Caribbean, passengers can check-in online for all flights. Its premium class features more comfort and biggest seats with leather seat covers, laptop power in all seats on LHR aircraft. The passengers of upper class get the most comfortable seat and bed in the air.