Gunter Endres/LONDON
VIRGIN ATLANTIC Airways is to become the first major airline in modern times to install a separate sleeping compartment in its aircraft. The airline will use what is usually the front cargo hold of an Airbus A340-300. The A340 is due to be delivered in 1997.
The ten beds will be reserved for the carrier's Upper Class passengers travelling on long-haul services - possibly new services to Singapore and Sydney - in the second half of 1997.
Airbus introduced the concept in 1995 - the first time a genuine sleeping compartment has been offered on a jet-powered airliner - and Virgin is believed to be the first airline to take up the offer.
The compartment - which consists of five sets of bunk beds in three separate cabins - can be reached during flight via a staircase from the main deck. Virgin declines to comment, but it is thought that the move is partly in response to British Airways' 1995 upgrade of its first-class cabins to include full-sized sleeper seats.
The aircraft involved is a previously unannounced addition to the Virgin fleet - bringing the carrier's A340 orderbook to seven. The airline will be taking delivery of a fifth A340-300 in May, with a further two expected to be added to the fleet in the second quarter of 1997.
The airline is retaining its options on the Boeing 777, but its latest plans throw some doubt on its early acquisition of the US manufacturer's latest twinjet. Virgin's Boeing 747-400 fleet will be enlarged, however, with a third aircraft due in June, for use on the Gatwick-Orlando route and then the Hong Kong route. An order for two more 747-400s for delivery in 1997 is understood to be imminent.
Planned routes for 1996 are Manchester-Orlando, to be added on 17 May; Washington from London Heathrow by early July; and Johannesburg from Heathrow in July. Singapore and Sydney are expected to follow in 1997, once the extra aircraft are delivered.
Source: Flight International
