Queen Elizabeth II Names Virgin Atlantic's Queen of the Skies

On 7 April 2004, Queen Elizabeth II officially named one of our Airbus A340-600 aircraft Queen of the Skies during a ceremony at the Airbus manufacturing facility in Toulouse, France. The aircraft, registered G-VEIL, was among the newest additions to our long-haul fleet. The naming took place during the Queen's state visit to France, which commemorated the centenary of the Entente Cordiale, the 1904 agreement that helped strengthen relations between Britain and France. The ceremony brought together British and French representatives at the Airbus facility, highlighting the international cooperation involved in European aircraft manufacturing. Before naming the aircraft, the Queen addressed Airbus employees and acknowledged the contribution of British and French teams to the manufacturer's success. She then formally bestowed the name Queen of the Skies on our new aircraft. For Virgin Atlantic, the occasion was a memorable part of our fleet history and continued our tradition of giving individual names to our aircraft. It was also our second royal aircraft-naming ceremony, following Princess Diana's naming of the Airbus A340-300 Lady in Red in 1993.