The importance of the Irish market was reinforced by the presence of Virgin Atlantic Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer, Julie Southern, at the airline’s annual Irish Agents Awards Dinner, held at the Morgan Hotel in Dublin last week.
The ever-popular Terry Smith, fresh from his winning performance at the F-Factor event in London, was in fine fettle at the event.
Julie Southern told the agents that Virgin had introduced its new Airbus A330 on the London Gatwick and Manchester to Florida routes and that passenger reaction was very positive. The A330 has the latest seats and the latest IFE system, together with new menus.
She also said that the carrier plans to spend £56 million upgrading its current Gatwick fleet of B747s to the same standard as the new A330.
The carrier is also planning new routes to Mexico.
The winning agents were as follows:
American Holidays
Atlas Travel / AMEX
BCD Travel
Carlson Wagonlit Travel
Cassidy Travel
Club Travel
Ebookers
ETravel
FCm Travel Solutions
Sunway
Tour America
Trailfinders
Travel Counsellors
Travel Focus
TravelPaths
USIT
World Travel Centre
Rhona McCann, FCm Travel Solutions; John Cassidy, Cassidy Travel; Julie Southern and Janice Scott, Virgin Atlantic Airways; and Dave Hyamms, Trailfinders.
Martin Hannigan, American Holidays; Rhona McCann, FCm Travel Solutions; and Tara Flanagan, Sunway.
Noel McAuliffe, Travel Focus,and Bernie Whelan, Travel Counsellors.
