Virgin Atlantic Introduces New, More Inclusive Flying Icons

On 2 April 2019, we unveiled five new Flying Icons to appear on our next generation of Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. The designs offered a more diverse representation of modern Britain, updating the Flying Lady artwork that had been part of our aircraft livery for more than three decades. Our original Flying Lady was inspired by the work of artist Alberto Vargas and the tradition of decorative figureheads on ships. The new designs retained the idea of a distinctive character on the nose of each aircraft while introducing male and female figures representing different ethnicities and identities. The collection included a Black man, a Black woman and a gay male character, broadening the range of people represented in our aircraft artwork. The change was announced as we prepared to introduce our Airbus A350-1000 fleet. Four aircraft were expected to arrive during 2019, with the remaining eight planned by 2021. It also accompanied our wider work on workplace inclusion, including commitments to improve gender balance in leadership and increase ethnic diversity across the business. The first aircraft featuring one of the new designs, Red Velvet, was unveiled in August 2019 ahead of its planned September entry into service. By refreshing the Flying Icons, we retained a familiar part of Virgin Atlantic's visual identity while making the artwork more representative of our customers and colleagues.