(Bloomberg) — As Virgin Atlantic Airways celebrates its 40th anniversary, founder Richard Branson plans to more closely integrate the airline with its cruise ship and hotel businesses to offer travelers a one-stop shop.
Branson said he wants to further improve collaboration between the two brands, including allowing passengers on Virgin Voyages cruises to earn loyalty points with the airline and adding more hotels to destinations the airline flies to.
“This is something we should have done 50 years ago,” Branson, 73, said in an interview Monday at the company's Las Vegas hotel. “We've had a number of different Virgin companies. We're bringing the Virgin companies together under one umbrella.”
The upstart airline that took on British Airways in the 1980s is now entering its fifth decade of service. Some of its innovations, from seat-back entertainment screens to premium economy cabins, have been adopted more widely, and in some cases more effectively, by its rivals. Rather than trying to compete on hardware with better-funded Middle Eastern airlines, Virgin is focusing on service and aiming to make it easier for customers to book more seamlessly across its business units.
Virgin brought its holidays brand into its airline business during the pandemic, renaming it Virgin Atlantic Holidays, as it seeks to follow in the footsteps of other companies such as British Airways in generating more revenue from its holidays and loyalty businesses, and in its latest accounts BA indicated it intends to combine the two divisions as they grow rapidly.
Virgin's chief commercial officer, Juha Jarvinen, said the aim of the rebranding is to help the company reach a wider customer base. The company plans to expand Virgin Atlantic Holidays to all markets and sell Britain as a holiday destination from the United States and Canada by next year, he said. The company is also looking to sell a wider variety of holiday packages through its website, where travellers can add on excursions and insurance.
New Hotel
The company's hotel business is also expanding after shrinking somewhat during the pandemic, from just three hotels open three years ago to 17 this week, including in New York; Edinburgh, Scotland; and Mallorca, Spain. Mr. Branson was in Washington this week and said he was touring other hotels for possible addition to the portfolio.
Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss said the airline will also look at using data to personalize travel itineraries for travelers.
“It's a journey from start to finish, connecting the dots,” he said. “Not just travel, but holidaying with Virgin Atlantic Holidays, selling hotels and delivering in a more personalised and meaningful way.”
As for other in-flight innovations, Branson said he isn't considering bringing back in-flight massages because with only 10 to 12 seats per flight, that would disappoint many potential customers, but he said the airline is looking at other ways to differentiate itself in cabins and lounges around the world.
Rooftop Gym
One innovation hatched during his morning workouts with Weiss was turning the rooftop of the Virgin Clubhouse at Heathrow Airport into an outdoor gym, which Branson hopes to roll out in the coming weeks.
The airline is celebrating its 40th anniversary but faces stiff competition from rival British Airways, which has announced a £7 billion transformation plan, and from Middle Eastern rivals whose premium cabins offer much more space and comfort.But Branson is confident about the company's future and its ability to take on its biggest British rivals.
“We fly on most of the major routes we want to be on and hopefully over the next few years we can win a few more slots and keep their integrity on other routes,” he said. “We've been able to compete with BA on every route we fly and that's something we're very proud of.”
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