Branson's Virgin Atlantic to scrap in-flight bars

Telegraph

09-07-2025

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic will scrap the in-flight bars that helped make its name, as the airline makes space for more seats.
The bars, which have helped create a party atmosphere in Virgin's business class cabins for more than three decades, will be removed following a refitting of its Boeing 787 jets.
Virgin has already axed the lounges, which allowed travellers to sit at the bar and drink their way across the Atlantic, on its newer planes. However, they will now be taken out of its older jets too.
The phase-out will begin within three years and be done by the end of the decade.
Shai Weiss, the airline's chief executive, said he will personally miss the bars, but they were looking increasingly anachronistic and taking up valuable space that could otherwise be used for seats.
He said: 'At Virgin Atlantic people love a bar. It's a very emotional word here. I love the bar and a lot of people love the bar.
'But the world has moved on. You can't stand still. We've made the decision, a bold decision, to try to make more of that space.'
'Retreat suites'
The decision comes a year after Sir Richard said that replacing the bar with a social seating area dubbed the 'loft' on new aircraft had been 'a dreadful mistake'.
The entrepreneur said at the time that Virgin would 'own up' to the error and would 'be bringing back the bar as soon as we possibly can.'
Virgin was the first modern airline to introduce an in-flight bar in a move that harked back to the early decades of the jet age, when carriers such as PanAm fitted out their Boeing 747s with cocktail lounges, piano bars and even Polynesian-themed pubs.
For Virgin, the horseshoe-shaped drinking areas, surrounded by bar stools, helped establish its brand as Sir Richard sought to steal customers away from the larger British Airways.
Instead of the bar, Mr Weiss said Virgin planned to add more 'retreat suites', a seat with an ottoman opposite it, which, if the barrier to the neighbouring seat is dropped, can accommodate a business meeting for four or allow family members to sit facing each other.
The seats, which convert into a 6ft 7in bed, sell for up to £300 more than a standard berth in Virgin's business cabin, known as Upper Class, but are limited to just two per plane and are only available on Virgin's Airbus A330 models.
Following a refurbishment plan there will be six such seats on 10 of the A330s and eight on at least 14 of the airline's 787s, Mr Weiss said.
He said: 'We don't have a first-class product and we are not having one. But we do want a differentiation, so that we can offer you the feeling of first class within our Upper Class cabin.
'Once we have more of these suites then more people can hold a meeting or a dinner party or splash out and have a bigger bed for a special occasion. And it pushes us to a more premium proposition because people are paying more for it.'
Pursuit of profits
Virgin will also increase the proportion of Upper Class and premium economy berths on more than half of its jets. Around 45pc of its seats will be for higher paying passengers, up from 30pc now and one of the highest proportions in the airline industry.
Mr Weiss said the focus on wealthier travellers reflected 'an insatiable demand for premium travel', with its priciest cabins now more than 90pc full.
The airline chief has sought to sharpen Virgin's focus on profit since Covid, which pushed it close to collapse. Last year the airline returned to profit for the first time in five years.
Virgin also announced plans for upgraded clubhouses – as its lounges are known – in London and New York, a new customer app and 'concierge service' developed with OpenAI, and higher frequent flyer status for people who travel less often.
The five-year plan will also see Virgin become the first UK airline to offer free and unlimited streaming-quality Wi-Fi using Elon Musk's Starlink.
The decision to phase out the in-flight bars will leave Emirates as the main airline still offering them. The Dubai-based airline has bars fitted on the upper deck of its A380 superjumbos.