4.5 Million passengers later, Virgin Atlantic is celebrating 25 years of flying to Miami. Sir Richard Branson walked the wing of a Virgin Atlantic Airways 747-400 at Miami International Airport this week to celebrate 25 years of flying from London to Miami.
“This is a fantastic milestone in Virgin Atlantic’s history,” Branson said reports the DailyMail. “Miami was the second route Virgin Atlantic launched two years after the airline began and to think that we are now a world-class airline with 32 long-haul destinations is a dream come true.”
In celebration, the airline is offering fares from London to Miami for as low as $281 per person each way during it’s 25 year anniversary sale . Originally good through June 15th, the sale has been extended through June 21.
Since starting to fly the London to Miami route in 1986, the airline’s fleet has flown a total of 67 million miles to and from Miami and served guests over 5 million of their signature meals and ice cream. Passengers have enjoyed 165,000 bottles of champagne with the millionth glass supposedly served aboard the June 15 flight.
“Miami is a key route for Virgin Atlantic” Branson said “with many business travelers commuting on the route each year and holiday makers jetting out to enjoy Miami and its many beautiful beaches. Our promise to our passengers when we launched the route was to offer a fantastic quality of service and innovation onboard at great value and I believe that we continue to fulfill that promise 25 years later.”
Virgin Atlantic also celebrated this week the 10th anniversary of flights between London and Las Vegas with Branson and the world’s most famous burlesque performer Dita Von Teese, at an airside photocall as they walked the wing of the plane on arrival.
Since June 2000 Virgin Atlantic has flown 2 million passengers to the destination, with its twice-weekly service increasing to a daily flight in may 2006 due to the route’s popularity. Today, the airline is also announcing the launch of twice-weekly flights from Manchester to Las Vegas in April 2011.
Here’s to 10 and 25 more Sir Richard!