Virgin Atlantic buys five 747s, weighs expansion in Vegas

Friday, Nov. 10, 2000 | 11:18 a.m.

Buoyed by favorable passenger loads on its twice-a-week nonstop flights between London and Las Vegas, Virgin Atlantic Airlines is considering adding to its schedule here.

The airline announced Thursday that it is expanding its fleet with the purchase of five new Boeing 747-400 jets in a deal worth more than $800 million. Virgin Atlantic is expected to take delivery of the planes between March and June.

The purchase fueled speculation that the London-Las Vegas route would be in Virgin's expansion plans. Local travel professionals have said they expected Virgin would add more flights quickly if loads proved what they anticipated -- that the route would be popular.

The London-based carrier, owned by entrepreneur Richard Branson, inaugurated service between London's Gatwick International Airport and McCarran International in June.

"We all anticipated the Las Vegas route was going to go off on a good note, but we had no idea it was going to be this great," said Sharon Pomerantz, a Virgin Atlantic spokeswoman based in Norwalk, Conn.

Pomerantz said the airline was investigating additional service to Las Vegas, but stopped short of saying any new flights were finalized.

"The loads have been exceptional," she said. "It has become one of our best immediate markets."

London's two major airports, Gatwick and Heathrow, are hubs for Virgin Atlantic, but because of existing aviation treaties between Great Britain and the United States, air carriers are limited on the number of flights that can be offered between the two countries.

The 400 series of the Boeing 747 is the largest airliner the Seattle company builds. Virgin Atlantic has 32 aircraft, 17 of which are 747s and six of those are 400-series planes. That plane, a four-engine jumbo jet with two decks of passengers in the front of the aircraft, can be configured to hold more than 420 passengers.

Virgin Atlantic added four new cities to its network in the last year -- Chicago, Cape Town, Delhi and Las Vegas -- while increasing frequency from two cities -- San Francisco and Shanghai. Company officials said an announcement involving new air service is expected to be made later this month.

Branson, the flamboyant chairman of the airline, flew on the inaugural flight to Las Vegas from London and arrived dressed like Elvis Presley.

Additional London flights would be a welcome boost to Las Vegas' bid for more direct international flights, since Northwest Airlines confirmed last month that it is dropping its twice-a-week nonstop flights between Las Vegas and Tokyo in April. Las Vegas officials have asked Northwest rival Japan Airlines to pick up the dropped flights.