VIR to purchase 26 A346s

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VIRGIN ATLANTIC ANNOUNCES $5.5bn ORDER FOR 26 AIRBUS A340-600s

(Norwalk, CT) August 5, 2004 - Virgin Atlantic Airways today announced
that it has reached an agreement to take delivery of 13 new A340-600
aircraft with options for a further 13. In total the deal is worth in
excess of $5.5bn. Each aircraft will be equipped with four Rolls Royce
Trent 500 engines and deliveries will take place between 2006-08.

Commenting on the deal, Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of the airline,
said:

"The Airbus A340-600 is a phenomenal aircraft and Airbus produced a very
competitive deal. This is by some way the biggest aircraft order in
Virgin Atlantics history and will enable us to double the size of the
airline over the next five years.

"Our current fleet of 29 aircraft is already younger than those of our
competitors. Together with existing orders for A340-600s and A380s we
now have 24 firm orders with options for 19 more aircraft. These
aircraft will allow us to add two or three more routes per year as well
as expand capacity to existing destinations.

"This order is also great news for British industry with around half the
aircraft being built in the UK engines in Derby and wings at Broughton.

"These new aircraft will enable us to increase the number of passengers
we fly each year from four million to eight million. To do so we will be
adding capacity around our existing network like the US, China, Japan,
India, the Caribbean and Africa. In addition, well be adding lots of new
destinations our current wish list includes Melbourne, Dubai, Bangkok,
Mumbai, Chicago, Toronto, Jamaica, Nairobi and Rio!"

Nol Forgeard, President and CEO of Airbus said:

"Im delighted about Virgins decision to expand its fleet with the
A340-600. It is the most advanced and innovative aircraft in its
category and as Virgin shares Airbus taste for innovation and
excellence, I know that Virgin Atlantic is taking full advantage of the
A340-600s great potential."

Charles Cuddington, Managing Director Airline Business at
Rolls-Royce,said:

"We're delighted to be extending our relationship with Virgin
AtlanticAirways through this repeat order involving more than 100
engines. Virgin Atlantic is known as a ground-breaker, and that record
includes its role as launch customer for our Trent 500 engine. Having
recently celebrated the second anniversary of that entry into service,
today's events provide a reason for double celebrations."

Virgin Atlantic operates one of the worlds youngest fleets of aircraft.
The fleet comprises of 29 aircraft, thirteen Boeing 747-400s, nine
Airbus A340-300s and seven A340-600s. The current average age of the
fleet is five years and seven months.

The new A340-600 entered service with launch customer Virgin Atlantic in
July 2002. The inaugural flight took place at the 2002 Farnborough Air
Show. The 600 series retains the same fuselage cross section as the 300,
but is some 11.6m longer, at 75.3m making it the longest civil aircraft
in the world. The A340-600 is designed to fly over 7250 nm with a full
payload of passengers and is currently configured with 306 seats in the
Virgin Atlantic three class layout. The aircraft is powered by four
Rolls Royce Trent 500 engines each delivering 56,000lb of thrust. The
aircraft is almost precisely 50% British built. The engines are built by
Rolls Royce in Derby and the wings manufactured by AirbusUK, Broughton.
The final assembly takes place at Toulouse.

Richard Branson added:

"Airbus offered us a terrific deal in all respects. We took a range of
factors into account, one of which is the preference of some of our
passengers to travel on four engined aircraft rather than twin engined.

"Our route network currently stands at 22 with new routes to Sydney,
Cuba and The Bahamas to come over the next year. Beyond that we plan to
aggressively grow the airline. As well as expanding on key business
routes out of Heathrow, we aim to build on Virgin Holidays huge success
in the leisure market by adding significant capacity out of Gatwick and
Manchester."

VIRGIN ATLANTIC FLEET DETAILS

CURRENT FIRM ORDERS OPTIONS
Airbus A340-300 9
Airbus A340-600 7 18 13
Airbus A380 6 6
Boeing 747-400 13
Total 29 24 19


DELIVERY SCHEDULE
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
A340-600 2 8 5 3
A380-800 3 2 1

For further information please contact the Virgin Atlantic Press Office
at 203-750-2570 or log onto www.virgin.com/atlantic

BL.
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Brad Littlejohn | Email:
Unix Systems Administrator, |
Web + NewsMaster, BOFH.. Smeghead! | http://www.sbcglobal.net/~tyketto
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