Crew prepare a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft before the world's first commercial biofuel flight to Amsterdam from Heathrow Airport in London
Crew prepare a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft before the world's first commercial biofuel flight to Amsterdam from Heathrow Airport in London February 24, 2008. Reuters/Luke MacGregor

British carrier Virgin Atlantic has established a foothold in New Zealand by appointing a sales manager. It is trying to tap the U.K.-bound travellers from New Zealand. The Rugby World Cup coming up in September 2015 may take many rugby fans to England. The airline has an eye on that sporting segment also. At present, it is the only British carrier with an office in New Zealand after the British Airways ended its presence a few months ago.

Says Virgin Atlantic Commercial Manager Adrian Bird, "it is really important for us to have a presence in the New Zealand market, considering the historic links between New Zealand and the U.K. London is always the number one destination in Europe. Our mission is to offer New Zealanders a good choice,"

The report in NZ Herald said, even though Virgin Atlantic is not part of any airline alliance, it is maintaining many strategic partnerships including the one with Air New Zealand. "We have a very good partnership with Air New Zealand. New Zealand is one of our top markets and we are expecting more expansion here with the Rugby World Cup coming up in England." Virgin Atlantic is trying to target Air New Zealand passengers who go to San Francisco and Shanghai before flying to London.

Recovering From Loss

Virgin Atlantic is in a turnaround phase after consistent losses for two years. The airline suffered a loss of $202 million in 2012 which it halved in 2013 and expects to post a small profit of $10 million in 2014. In recent times, Virgin Atlantic has taken many business savvy decisions. One such decision was adding five daily U.S. flights with a new route to Detroit, after scrapping services to Asian cities like Tokyo and Mumbai. This followed Delta Air Lines picking up a stake in the airline, reported Bloomberg. In the carrier, billionaire Richard Branson holds 51 percent stake. In North America, it is trying to rebuild a business around a revenue-sharing alliance with Delta on North Atlantic flights.

Pilot Training

Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic announced a new pilot career programme called The Virgin Atlantic Future Flyers Program. It allows pilots to join the airline without any previous flying experience. The programme, being implemented in collaboration with CTC Aviation, is offering new pilots the opportunity to get trained on long-haul aircraft as soon as they receive flying licence, reported Travel Wires.