Well I am no longer a virgin flyer with Virgin Atlantic. But innuendos apart, I was quite impressed by Virgin Atlantic. Frankly prior to boarding, I was dreading flying Virgin Atlantic having heard all the negative comments about it and how BA offered a far more superior economy class product.
I must say I disagree completely. Having flown BA during January on the same route (Delhi-London) on a day flight (same as Virgin) makes it possible for me to make a direct comparison on the service of the two airlines and Virgin wins hands down. Check in was okay. Nothing much to write about that. Air India stuff did the check in. Virgin ground stuff performed their functions. The aircraft from Delhi-London was an A340-300. I like the funky and brash virgin interiors.
The economy class seats were actually quite bearable on this aircraft. I have heard about Virgin’s knee jamming seats but frankly, the seating was quite alrite and far better then British Airways that I found excruciating. There was not much space between the seats, however the slim line seats were shaped in such a way that there was enough leg space. The seat width was average by economy class standards that are not great but bearable.
At six feet, I was quite comfortable in my aisle seat. I would not say it was exceptional seating like emirates (on some aircrafts) and Malaysian Airlines, but it was quite tolerable especially when compared to most other airlines. The cabin crew were quite good. They were reasonably attentive and friendly in an informal way. They definitely are not as attentive and committed as the crew of Singapore Airlines but are quite pleasant. Quite a contrast to the stodgy and sullen BA crew who seem to suffer from a major attitude problem as far as economy class passengers are concerned.
In-flight entertainment was great with an amazing choice of on demand movies that you could start at your own chosen time, rewind and fast-forward. The movie selection was great. The food service was very good by economy standards. These days particularly on European airlines....food portions are equivalent to Somalian rations and more often then not taste like that. Virgin does much better. A choice of three meals was offered for lunch (as opposed to BA’s two). The portions, quality and presentation were superb for economy class. Wide list of alcoholic beverages except there is a catch.
No coke or Pepsi on virgin Atlantic. Only virgin cola which was quite good and almost the same as coke fortunately. Frequent rounds of orange juice and water were available. Ice-cream served mid-flight and there was a selection of chocolate bars and muffins in case you felt peckish during the flight unlike BA where you starved. Arrival snack served hot and was tasty- a far cry from BA’s frozen and tasteless sandwiches.
Virgin also has great in-flight duty-free particularly as far as electronic gadgets are concerned. Arrival and baggage at Heathrow were okay. Ground crew was also efficient and performed their functions. Again nothing spectacular but nothing to complain about either. Overall, Virgin offers an acceptable level of ground service (nothing more or less) and a good in-flight service.
Overall it is the best westbound carrier from India with the exception of Emirates at least based on my one experience. I realize this may be an aberration after all the reviews I have read, but frankly I have no reason not to recommend it especially when I compare it to my other experiences on BA, Swiss, Air France, Austrian and even Lufthansa. The day flight timings from Delhi provide an even greater incentive to fly with Virgin. Certainly not in the class of Singapore Airlines and Emirates but still very good.