Virgin Atlantic limit being expressed upon everything associated with starting up operations. Virgin Atlantic became profitable within the first 12 months, aided by sister company Virgin Records' ability to finance the lease of a secondhand Boeing 747. The firm had timed its operations to take advantage of a full summer, from June to September, which was typically the most profitable period of the year. In November 1984 the airline launched a service between Gatwick Airport and Maastricht Aachen Airport in the Netherlands using a chartered BAC One-Eleven. In 1986 the airline added another Boeing 747 to its fleet and started a scheduled
Virgin Atlantic without passengers from Heathrow to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, with 20% of the power for one engine provided by plant-based biofuel. Virgin said that it expected to use algae-based biofuels in the future. Virgin Atlantic took delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 in October 2014, becoming the first European airline to fly the variant. Virgin's order was first announced on 24 April 2007, and is for a total of 17 aircraft, with options on five more. The exercised options will replace the Heathrow-based 747 fleet during 2015 and 2016. Virgin Atlantic had also ordered six Airbus A380-800 aircraft, with options on