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 Little Red Airport, six daily flights between Heathrow and Edinburgh Airport, and three daily flights between Heathrow and Aberdeen Airport. The airline brand made its first flight on 31 March 2013, flying from Manchester to Heathrow. The new service was launched in 2013 with owner Sir Richard Branson stating his intent to compete with BA with "Virgin's rock and roll spirit" and to allow Virgin Atlantic's long haul passengers to connect to the rest of the UK using Virgin. In its first six months of operation, Little Red transported 250,000 passengers. Despite Branson's aim and a rise in passenger numbers during the