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Virgin ‘to double in size by 2010’
Virgin Atlantic has announced an expansion that will create some 1,400 jobs – and is reportedly aiming to double is size by 2010. The carrier has announced that it aims to launch routes to Australia, Cuba and the Bahamas, and increase frequency on some of its existing services. The carrier has reportedly already ordered two Airbus A340-600s and has entered negotiations with Boeing and Airbus to buy 30 new planes. The Independent newspaper says the recruitment drive, which includes 700 cabin crew jobs, 300 ground staff positions at Heathrow and 300 more head office jobs, will increase the carrier’s workforce to just under 9,000. The newspaper quotes Sir Richard Branson as saying that the carrier is aiming for double-digit growth over the next few years, and that premium traffic has increase some 10 per cent “in recent weeks”. The Daily Telegraph’s Ben Webster goes one further, reporting that Branson “is planning to double the size of Virgin Atlantic by 2010 in a direct assault on British Airways”. The Cuba and Bahamas services are expected to be launched by summer 2005, though Virgin has not yet obtained regulatory clearance for flights to Sydney. Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
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