LONDON – Virgin Atlantic has honored the late HM Queen Elizabeth II by naming its latest Airbus A330neo after it.
G-VEII, the fourth A330neo in the fleet, will be named after the Monarch.
The other three A330neos in the fleet so far are:
- G-VJAZ – Billie Holiday
- G-VTOM – Space Oddity
- G-VLDY – Eliza Doolittle
With the fourth A330neo, this means that the airline is still yet to receive another eight units of the type, following on from their order of 12 aircraft.
Virgin Atlantic & Aircraft Naming…
Virgin Atlantic is one of many airlines worldwide known for naming its aircraft after inspirational people.
For example, G-VLIB, one of their Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, is named Lade Emmeline, which pays tribute to the founder of the Suffragette movement, Emmeline Pankhurst.
G-VEVE, another A350-1000 aircraft, is named Fearless Lady after Eve Branson, the mother of Virgin Group Founder Richard Branson.
The specific reason for this aircraft to be named after HM Queen Elizabeth II is due to the registration and the history she had with Virgin Atlantic.
Back in 2004, Queen Elizabeth II visited the Airbus plant in Toulouse to induct an Airbus A340-600 into the Virgin Atlantic fleet.
This particular aircraft was also named Queen of the Skies, which is why we are now seeing the same sticker applied to the Virgin Atlantic A330neo of G-VEII (With the E and two IIs representing Elizabeth II).
Koster: Proud to Fly The Flag…
Commenting on this particular aircraft was Corneel Koster, the Chief Customer & Operations Officer at Virgin Atlantic:
“Just like Queen Elizabeth during her historic 70-year reign, Virgin Atlantic is proud to fly the flag for the United Kingdom around the world.”
“We’re delighted to be soon welcoming ‘Queen of the Skies’ to our fleet and hope that it serves as a fitting tribute to an unforgettable, much-loved monarch.”
This is most definitely a fitting tribute to a Monarch who reigned the UK and Commonwealth for over 70 years.
Virgin Atlantic & The A330neo…
The Airbus A330neo represented the next stage in the airline’s strategy to operate the cleanest and greenest fleet in the skies.
On top of its A330neo deliveries, Virgin has also been taking delivery of A350-1000 aircraft over the last few years.
For the A330neo in particular, these aircraft will eventually replace its older Airbus A330-300 fleet, which comes in at an average age of 11.2 years, as per Planespotters.net.
It is unclear whether the airline will order any other aircraft to replace its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner fleet, which offers an average age of 6.9 years, especially with the issues they have had in recent years.
Overall…
This is most definitely a kind gesture put out by the airline to honor Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
With the A330neos only just being delivered, such a sticker will be showcased to the world for many years to come.
For now, all eyes are on the airline to see what other names they will come up with for their remaining eight A330neos.
