Virgin Atlantic a result of a High Court action, this additional payment was received shortly before Fields' death in 1997. On 22 June 1984, Virgin Atlantic operated its inaugural scheduled service, flown between Gatwick and Newark using a leased Boeing 747-200 (registration ), christened "Maiden Voyager", which had been formerly operated by Aerolíneas Argentinas. From the onset, its activities were augmented by leveraging existing Virgin Group resources, such as tickets being sold at Virgin Megastores record shops. Part of Richard Branson's declared approach to business is to either succeed within the first year or exit the market; this ethos includes a one-year
Virgin Atlantic April 2012. Sir Richard Branson announced in March 2016 that The Spaceship Company would partner with Boom Technology to develop supersonic jets capable of travelling between London and New York in three and a half hours. He confirmed that Virgin Atlantic had options on 10 of the aircraft. In July 2016, Virgin Atlantic announced an order for 12 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, to eventually replace the ageing four-engined Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A340-600 fleets. The order consists of eight aircraft which will be purchased directly from Airbus, with a further four acquired through leasing companies. It is expected that the 12