SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 12, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Virgin America, the new airline on a mission to make flying good again, today took the award for "Best Low Cost Airline in North America" among domestic carriers in Business Traveler Magazine's 2008 "Best in Business Travel" Survey.
"We're honored to be recognized as the top low-fare carrier choice by the most selective and experienced travelers," said Virgin America President and CEO David Cush. "Virgin America offers attractive fares and next generation amenities that appeal to today's business travelers. With inflight internet fleetwide by Spring 2009, we're continuing to innovate and deliver a flight experience that keeps business travelers comfortable, entertained, and connected to their work and lives from 35,000 feet."
The Business Traveler "Best in Business Travel Awards" are based on a survey of four thousand randomly selected subscribers who were given open-ended questions about the overall quality and service provided by low cost carriers operating in North America. Business Traveler is the world's leading publication geared towards frequent business travelers.
"In the highly competitive market for the premium business traveler, Virgin America has demonstrated that it has its finger on the pulse of what these executives are looking for, and that it consistently exceeds expectations," said Business Traveler editor in chief Eva Leonard.
Launched in August 2007, Virgin America offers amenities that are unrivalled in the domestic skies. The carrier boasts the youngest fleet in the U.S., with new Airbus A320-family aircraft that feature custom-designed leather seats, standard power outlets for electronic gear near every seat, the most advanced in-flight entertainment system in the U.S., and Gogo Inflight Internet already equipped on two aircraft (with fleetwide installation by Spring 2009). The Red(tm) Inflight Entertainment system allows guests to control their own flight experience with touch-screen food ordering, 25 on-demand films, seat-to-seat chat, the ability to create a play-list from over 3,000 MP3s, and live television (including CNN and CNBC) -- all accessed via touch-screen or remote control.
The carrier recently announced a new cabin option, Main Cabin Select, which offers 38-inches of seat pitch, complimentary food and cocktails, an all-access pass to the Red system's countless entertainment options, and priority check-in and boarding. Virgin America's First Class cabin offers international-grade amenities, with priority check-in and boarding and plush white leather seats with 55 inches of pitch and lumbar massagers. The Main Cabin offers custom-designed leather seats with a deeper, more comfortable pitch.
Virgin America offers daily flights from SFO to LAX, SFO to JFK, SFO to SAN, SFO to IAD, SFO to LAS, SFO to SEA, LAX to JFK, LAX to IAD, LAX to SEA, JFK to LAS and as of Feb. 12, 2009 -- BOS to LAX and BOS to SFO.
EDITORS NOTE: Virgin America is a U.S. controlled and operated airline that is an entirely separate company from Virgin Atlantic. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group is a minority share investor in Virgin America.
About Virgin America: Launched in August 2007, Virgin America is a California-based airline that offers guests attractive fares and a host of innovative features aimed at reinventing air travel. Virgin America's base of operations is San Francisco International Airport's ultra-modern and convenient International Terminal. The airline's new Airbus A320-family aircraft offer interactive in-flight entertainment systems and power outlets for laptops and other electronic gear. In just a short time flying, the carrier has swept travel industry best-in-class awards, including No. 1 for quality in First/Business Class in the U.S. in Zagat's Global Airlines Survey for 2007 and 2008; "Best Domestic Airline" in Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards; Best Travel Value in Arthur Frommer's Budget Awards; "Best Domestic Airline" in Conde Nast Traveler's 2008 Reader's Choice Award; and top U.S. airline for Business/First Class in the Conde Nast Traveler 2008 Business Travel Poll. In Oct. 2008, the airline was ranked as the "most on-time" airline among U.S. carriers by FlightStats.com. To learn more: www.virginamerica.com
The Virgin America logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2371
About Business Traveler Magazine: With ten editions worldwide and over 500,000 readers, Business Traveler is the world's leading publication geared towards frequent business travelers. BT offers practical travel resources, destination features, first-hand reviews, convention reports and a series of special supplements, including the annual business-class airline comparison study. In addition to BT's monthly features, visitor guides, lifestyle reports and weekend guides, each issue also includes special reports ranging from business etiquette tips to preventing identity theft and the growing trend of mixing business with vacations. www.btusonline.com
About FlightStats: FlightStats is an airline, airport, and travel information service provided by Conducive Technology Corp. On our Web site (www.flightstats.com) visitors can get flight status, view on-time performance ratings by flight or by airline, check for current airport delay and weather information, and much more. All services are free to site visitors and many services are available as widgets for installation on other web sites or personalized home pages such as iGoogle and Microsoft Live. FlightStats provides global flight status information and is the definitive source for historical airline performance data. Conducive Technology is also a leading supplier of air travel information services to travel agencies, logistics professionals, airlines, airports and industry analysts through software services and application programming interfaces (APIs).