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 Balloon Flights Since 1997, Virgin Balloon Flights has been the trading name for AirXcite Limited. In 2006 it acquired a N-355 balloon manufactured by Ultramagic. This new balloon, that takes a of air and can carry a basket with up to 16 passengers, replaced a smaller Cameron 340 balloon. Recently Virgin Balloon Flights expanded to Italy via the sister company of AirXcite, Ballooning in Tuscany, also owned by Kenneth Karlstrom. It now has 3 launch sites in Tuscany (Florence, Siena and Poggibonsi). Virgin Balloon Flights Virgin Balloon Flights, with headquarters in Telford, Shropshire, began flying hot air balloons in 1987 and its