Lots of positive changes coming to Virgin, and one sad goodbye
Why announce just one change when you can deliver a whole barrel load of upgrades? Virgin are getting serious about their future with new planes, upgraded facilities both on board and on the ground, and super-fast free Wifi for all. Sadly, one much-loved Virgin featured will be disppearing, for good.
What’s been announced?
- Virgin will start rolling out Starlink in 2027, the same connectivity system used by Qatar. This announcement will make Virgin the first UK airline to utilise it. The price? Astonishingly, it’s free, which is also a UK-first. BA does offer free wifi, but it’s limited to email and social media only.
- Their 787-9 fleet will undergo a refurbishment with larger premium cabins and new seating across Upper Class, Premium Economy and Economy.
- Ten new A330neo’s will be joining the fleet, however these will replace the A330-300s.
- Much-needed, but as yet unspecified, upgrades for the Heathrow and JFK Clubhouses.
- And here’s an interesting one: “a programme acknowledging multi-year loyalty”. Aimed atfliers who don’t earn enough tier points to move upwards.
Firstly, the super-fast Internet
Starlink is slowly being rolled out by airlines across the globe. United will have it on all of their regional jets (Embraer E-175s) by the end of 2025. Qatar have an accelerated roll-out focused on their 777s that is ahead of schedule. Closer to home, Air France, SAS and airBaltic are all at different stages with Starlink.
The big advantage with Starlink is the cost and the speed. On the latter, Qatar believes that every passenger could get 200mb/s. With regards to cost, whilst it’s not been made public how much it costs airlines, the fact that many are giving it away for free suggests that it’s significantly cheaper than current providers.
Virgin plans to roll out Starlink across its entire fleet of 787s, A350s and A330neos, with installation starting late in 2026 and with the aim of being completed by the end of 2027. That’s not a quick turnaround given that Qatar managed to get 35 of their 777s fitted in just four months. Virgin have 45 planes in service at the time of writing.
Despite the leisurely pace of the upgrade, it’s still an excellent upgrade for flyers.
Changes to the Virgin fleet
The ten new A330-900s on order will reduce the number of planes and variants that Virgin operate to three: the Boeing 787-9, the A350-1000 and one type of A330. Virgin currently operate seven A330-300s, which will be retired.
They have stated that their fleet will number 45 aircraft by 2028, which is the number they operate today. The difference in 2030 will be a newer fleet, which will likely be more reliable and efficient, as well as some significant changes to the cabins.
The 787-9 fleet will be refurbished with new seating across all three cabins. That seating will be “inspired” by the A330 seats, with Premium Economy (PE) and Upper Class cabins increasing in size. A chunky 44 Upper Class seats (up from 31) and 56 PE seats (up from 35) will decrease the size of the economy cabin from 192 seats at present to 127. Virgin are betting that by 2030 the premium market will be buoyant.
Virgin’s worst business class seat is on the 787, so it’s no surprise that it’s being changes. At some point in 2028, these new seats will launch, although for a period of two years, they will operate a fleet that has the old and the new.
The changes will also mean that the bigger “Retreat Suites” will find their way onto the 787. These are a much larger suite at the front of the cabin. As well as being a better customer experience, they’re also a good money maker for the airline.
The new A330neos will have an even bigger Upper Class cabin, with 48 suites. The PE cabin will be the same size as the 787 with 56 seats, and the economy cabin will have one more seat at 128. That’s another plane that is skewing towards premium traffic.
What about the bar?
What this means for the social spaces is uncertain. Given the number of seats quoted in the press release on the A330 it feels like a social space will be retained. Having lost the original bar a while ago, it’s going to be interesting to see what the new planes and the retrofitted 787 will have.
Whilst the new social spaces solve some of the challenges of the bar, they have lost the cool factor of being able to sit on a bar stool and order a drink on a plane. There are relatively few airlines that offer this, and it’s likely to decrease as the A380 retires. I wrote about which planes have bars a while back.
An update from Virgin after their initial release has confirmed that the onboard bars (in reality, the social spaces) will be disappearing. They were the only operator to run a bar on a plane that wasn’t an A380. For many, this is a sad loss. For others, who found the noise from the social spaces annoying, it’s a positive. What it does do is take away something special and unique about their planes.
Clubhouse upgrades
Virgin re-opened their LAX clubhouse in March 2025, and they’re going to be turning their attention to the original Heathrow clubhouse and the one at JFK in New York.
The London Clubhouse is what made me fly Virgin for the first time, and even back then, it had been through some downgrades. It’s still an incredible space, but it’s lost its shine.
There’s scant information on what they’re planning, other than a “multi-million pound investment” and “updating the look and feel”. Whether that means the barber and hot-tub are brought back is anyone’s guess, but I’d say it’s unfortunately unlikely.
More likely is a refresh of the space, with new furnishings. Given Virgin’s history around “being different” there’s hope that they’ll launch something unique, and cool.
What else is being launched?
Virgin are partnering with OpenAI and Tomoro.ai to bring an AI concierge to their app. It promises travel ideas and airport navigation. This is probably the least exciting change, given than AI is a little oversold at the moment and the benefits may not match the hyper.
From early 2026 Virgin will partner with Votary for their on-board amenity kits.
What does this mean for the Virgin?
The airline has lost its sparkle over the last few years. Each year, we try to experience something new and interesting (Last year it was Etihad’s The Residence, this year it’s Singapore’s First Class). Virgin hasn’t featured on our “must try” list for a long time, despite the launch of new seats back in 2022.
An upgraded clubhouse and more Retreat Suites would certainly make us more interested in flying with them, and I can only assume that the retirement of the 787 Upper Class suites will bring them more business from fliers.
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