Virgin Atlantic scraps popular feature because ‘the world has moved on’

Virgin Atlantic has announced that it will be scrapping its in-flight bars to make way for more seating areas, removing a feature from its planes that became a key characteristic of its premium flight experience.

Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic became the first international carrier to offer a bar for passengers 30,000 feet in the air and the space helped create the well-known party atmosphere in the airline’s upper classes.

The airline has already discontinued the bar-lounge area on its newer planes, but it has recently been announced that they will also be taken out of older jets, too.

The bars will be phased out, starting in the next three years, with the final one removed towards the end of the decade.

Shai Weiss, Virgin’s chief executive, said he will personally miss the bars, but he said they were starting to look old-fashioned, with the area taking up space that could otherwise be used for seats.

“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,” he said, according to The Telegraph.

“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.”

The airline has made a U-turn on their bar feature. A year ago, Mr Branson vowed to bring the bars back after the “dreadful mistake” of removing them.

The billionaire entrepreneur said in June 2024: “We’re bringing back the bar as soon as we possibly can.”

Virgin Atlantic started phasing out the bars in 2019 for a “loft” space found between the upper class and premium economy.

Avoiding the answer over why the decision had been made to scrap the bar in the first place, he added: “If we make a mistake, let’s own up to it quickly and sort it. That’s what we’ll do.”

However, a final decision has now been made, and the bars will not be a permanent feature in Virgin Atlantic’s flight experience.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson told The Independent: “We have loved the bar, but we have a new vision for social spaces; the retreat suites, the private space built for sharing and socialising.

“A home away from home and an office in the sky. Our guests can still enjoy the bars until 2028, and our other social space, The Loft, will continue to fly board our Airbus A350s and nine of our A330neos.”

In 2026, Virgin Atlantic said 10 A330neo aircraft will join its fleet along with six Retreat Suites, larger premium cabins, 48 upper class and 56 premium suites.

The Retreat Suite is the “airline’s most spacious suite yet”, comprising of a 6ft 7” direct seat to a fully flat bed, a 27” touchscreen and an ottoman that doubles up as an extra seat. These suites will also become a feature on the 787-9 fleet.

The suites were announced amid Virgin’s recent shakeup of its flight experience, in which the airline also said it will be introducing free streaming-quality unlimited wifi through Elon Musk’s Starlink technology by 2027.

Cabin refurbishments on its Boeing fleet, new clubhouses at London Heathrow and New York JFK and an AI concierge service are also expected to debut over the coming years.

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