Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 fleet history
Virgin Atlantic’s first flight on 22 June 1984 was a leased Boeing 747-200, and the airline flew 30 747s for 36 years until its last passenger 747-400 landed in March 2020.
Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic was born in 1984 with a single leased 747-200, and grew into one of the most identifiably branded 747 operators in the world.
Virgin’s first aircraft was G-VIRG “Maiden Voyager”, a leased 747-200 that launched scheduled service on 22 June 1984. Its 747 fleet eventually totalled 30 aircraft: 1 × 747-100, 14 × 747-200 and 13 × 747-400, of which nine -400s were new builds.
The first 747-400, G-VFAB “Lady Penelope”, joined in April 1994 and served until September 2015.
| Model | Notes |
|---|---|
| 747-100 (1) | A single early example |
| 747-200 (14) | The launch “Classics”, from 1984 |
| 747-400 (13) | The mature fleet from the 1990s |
The final scheduled 747-400 passenger flight, VS608 from Los Angeles to London Heathrow, departed on 30 March 2020; the remaining 747-400s were retired during that year. One former Virgin 747, G-VWOW, later flew Virgin Orbit air-launch missions under a different registration rather than as a museum aircraft.
Sources
- A fond farewell to the Boeing 747 — Virgin Atlantic
- Virgin Atlantic airline profile — Planespotters
- Ex-Virgin 747 G-VWOW as N744VG — World Airline News
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the primary and institutional references below.
- A fond farewell to the Boeing 747 — Virgin Atlantic
- Virgin Atlantic airline profile — Planespotters
- Ex-Virgin 747 G-VWOW as N744VG — World Airline News
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