Virgin America, the new U.S.-based start up carrier launched by Virgin
Atlantic proprietor Richard Branson, on Thursday announced it's route schedule
and began the sale of tickets, with fares starting as low as $44 one way. The
same day, Travelport's aiRES passenger services system and its Galileo global
distribution system announced a multiple-year full content agreement with the
carrier, making Galileo the only GDS to sell Virgin America's tickets for its
launch. However, Virgin America does not currently have permission from the
Department of Transportation to operate the services for any issued tickets.
Should the carrier not begin operations on the projected launch dates,
travelers may cancel tickets and obtain a full refund at any time. If travelers
choose not to cancel tickets and flights have not begun, Virgin America will
make an effort to arrange another flight, at a cost of up to 200 percent of the
Virgin America ticket. If a flight cannot be rescheduled, the airline said it
would refund 200 percent of the price paid for the Virgin America ticket. Services
are expected to kick off on August 8, when Virgin America will inaugurate two
daily flights between San FranciscoInternationalAirport--the
carrier's hub--and New York's JohnF.KennedyInternationalAirport, as well as five daily flights
between San Francisco
and Los Angeles International. A third San Francisco-New York flight will be
added on August 19 and a fourth on September 9, the carrier said. On August 29,
Virgin America will begin service between New York
and Los Angeles
with two daily roundtrip flights. A third flight will be added September 16. On
September 26, the carrier will start flying twice daily service between San
Francisco and Washington, D.C. Dulles International Airport; on October 10,
three daily flights between San Francisco and Las Vegas; and on October 24, two
daily flights between Los Angles and Washington, D.C. Virgin America said it
expects to serve as many as 10 cities within a year of operation and up to 30
cities within five years of service. The carrier is considering close to 40
cities for these services, including Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Newark, N.J. and Philadelphia.
On their very first flight, customers can start earning points on eleVAte,
Virgin America's loyalty program. Visit [www.virginamerica.com].