Who doesn’t like to peek at the aircraft and spot its name as they’re about to board a flight? Many of our customers love ticking off all the different planes they’ve flown on, and enthusiasts enjoy discussing our registrations and quirky monikers. Ours have become such a big part of our brand that whenever we receive a new aircraft into our fleet, its special identity gets a lot of attention. But why do we give our aircraft names in the first place? And where did this odd tradition come from, who chooses the names, and how do they relate to the registration?
What's in a name?
Before we get to the name, let’s talk about aircraft registrations. These are unique to each aircraft, with British registrations starting with a G- followed by four letters. All Virgin Atlantic aircraft have V as the first of those four letters, so G-VXXX. Our very first aircraft which took to the skies in June 1984 was a Boeing 747 with the registration G-VIRG.
At the time, the giant ‘Virgin’ written on the tailfin was the biggest iteration of the famous logo, but Richard also insisted on another touch to the livery. As a newcomer to the world of aviation, he disliked the way everyone around him was calling G-VIRG ‘Romeo Golf’; the standard way our industry refers to aircraft (by the last two letters of its registration). He wanted to bring a bit of personality to the fleet and asked for our first aircraft to be named Maiden Voyager. Much better. This small touch has endured throughout our history, from long before red engines and our famous flying lady icon.
Naming aircraft isn’t unique to us. Several other airlines do it, but they tend to name theirs after famous people, or landmarks and cities of their home country. We’ve always tried to do it with a bit more panache and fun. After all, our planes will be flying around the world for many years to come, will be seen by millions and appear in countless photos.
How we name our aircraft
Once we have a confirmed order of new aircraft, our Creative team are given the task of looking at both potential names and registrations. It’s a bit of a complex process and not as easy as just thinking of a list of fun names (though that helps!). You may have noticed we always try to have a link between the plane registration and the name. It’s no good coming up with a fabulous name if there’s not an available registration that will work with it.
With all our registrations starting with G-V that leaves three letters to play with. Sometimes we can spell a word beginning with V – for example, G-VAST, Ladybird. But the majority of the time we just have three letters to make a connection to a name. Plus, the last two letters will be the aircraft’s unique call sign, so cannot be the same as the last two letters of any other registration in the Virgin Atlantic fleet. See, we told you it was complex!
Where did this all begin?
Quite a bit of airline lingo was inherited from the world of shipping. Captains, port, starboard and galleys, to name a few. Even the airbridges you board from are sometimes known as jetties. And of course, all ships have names, and more often than not they are female. Nobody knows when or why people started naming them. It was probably to do with the amount of time sailors spent onboard and the emotional attachments they developed to their temporary homes.
The naming of planes made the jump from the marine world early on. Think Wright Flyer, Memphis Belle or Spirit of St Louis. For airlines, the practice of naming aircraft can also be traced back to the days of flying boats. During this period Pan Am started calling all their aircraft ‘Clippers’; a tradition that carried on right up until they ceased operations. Yet the names on aircraft have no operational purpose. On the ground, they’re still known by the last two letters of their registration, and once on the move, they have their own call sign that’s used to identify and communicate with air traffic control – usually some variation on the flight number.
So why continue to name our planes? We do get incredibly attached to our aircraft, in the same way, some get attached to a much-loved car or bike. Each has its own history, characteristics and memories, and customers often tell us the name of the plane that took them on their honeymoon or dream holiday. They’re the poster children of our airline, featuring in millions of holiday snaps and Instagram posts. It’s all a bit of much-needed fun. Part of that is trying to work out the link between the registration and name. Sometimes it’s easy; G-VSPY, Miss Moneypenny. Sometimes it’s not so obvious; G-VMAP, West End Girl, named after the Pet Shop Boys song and a rather tenuous link to the compass of a map. And then there are the ones that make no sense at all G-VXLG, Ruby Tuesday.
The Pet Shop Boys inspired West End Girl
Our names take inspiration from music, film, literature, food, Cockney rhyming slang and more – especially if there’s a British link. Sometimes we look back at previous names of retired aircraft that are just too good not to use again. Usually, a long list is created, then we check if there are appropriate registrations to match, before narrowing it down to the ones that stand out most. It can be tough when you become attached to some names, but there’s always next time!
A few more facts about our aircraft names:
Why women? This also harks back to shipping. Most boats have female names and are referred to in the feminine gender (she sets sail). It may have originated from European languages where objects are often given a gender. But again, nobody really knows, so we’re chalking it up to tradition.
While we don’t have lavish Champagne bottle smashing naming ceremonies like the shipping industry, two of our aircraft have been named by royalty. In 1993 Princess Diana joined Richard at our Heathrow hangar to unveil the Airbus A340-300 Lady in Red. And in 2004, on a visit to the Airbus factory in Toulouse, the Queen named G-VEIL Queen of the Skies.
When G-VWOW was named Cosmic Girl back in 2001, we couldn’t have predicted how the name would come into its own 14 years later. After retiring from passenger service, Cosmic Girl went on to become an airborne launch platform for Virgin Orbit’s satellites.
The only aircraft that didn’t follow the pattern of G-Vxx was G-TKYO, Maiden Japan, one of our earliest 747s
G-VATL was named following an internal staff competition. The winning name, Miss Kitty.
In 2006 we ran an eBay auction to name one of our Airbus A340-600 aircraft for a year. The winning bid was for £10,000, and Mr Heaney named the aircraft Emmeline Heaney after his newborn daughter. It proved a good investment because the name still adorns the aircraft 13 years later. We’d love to hear from Emmeline if anyone knows her. G-VYOU is due for retirement later this year.
There have been a few temporary aircraft renames for PR purposes over the years. Claudia Shiffer renamed G-VSHY ‘Cloudia Nine’. We had ‘Spice One’ named by the Spice Girls and ‘Austin Powered’ a 747 named after the movie character Austin Powers.
All aircraft have a registration – planes, helicopters and hot air balloons – and once a registration has been used, it can never be used again, even if the aircraft is decommissioned.
The only aircraft given a male name was Spirit of Sir Freddie, to recognise the help and advice that Sir Freddie Laker gave to Richard during the BA dirty tricks scandal.
We have two names in memory of colleagues who are no longer with us – Forever Young and Olivia-Rae
Four rock and roll acts share the honour of having two aircraft named after them. The Beatles with Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields; Abba with Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia; The Rolling Stones with Ruby Tuesday and Honkytonk Woman and David Bowie with Lady Stardust and Dream Jeannie.
Current fleet
G-VMIK
Airbus
A330-223
Honkytonk Woman
G-VWND
Airbus
A330-223
Scarlett O’Hara
G-VLNM
Airbus
A330-223
Strawberry Fields
G-VSXY
Airbus
A330-343
Beauty Queen
G-VKSS
Airbus
A330-343
Mademoiselle Rouge
G-VLUV
Airbus
A330-343
Lady Love
G-VGEM
Airbus
A330-343
Diamond Girl
G-VINE
Airbus
A330-343
Champagne Belle
G-VRAY
Airbus
A330-343
Miss Sunshine
G-VNYC
Airbus
A330-343
Uptown Girl
G-VGBR
Airbus
A330-343
Golden Girl
G-VWAG
Airbus
A330-343
Miss England
G-VUFO
Airbus
A330-343
Lady Stardust
G-VNEW
Boeing
B787-9
Birthday Girl
G-VAHH
Boeing
B787-9
Dream Girl
G-VOOH
Boeing
B787-9
Miss Chief
G-VZIG
Boeing
B787-9
Dream Jeannie
G-VYUM
Boeing
B787-9
Ruby Murray
G-VWHO
Boeing
B787-9
Mystery Girl
G-VCRU
Boeing
B787-9
Olivia-Rae
G-VSPY
Boeing
B787-9
Miss Moneypenny
G-VOWS
Boeing
B787-9
Maid Marian
G-VDIA
Boeing
B787-9
Lucy in the Sky
G-VBZZ
Boeing
B787-9
Queen Bee
G-VMAP
Boeing
B787-9
West End Girl
G-VFAN
Boeing
B787-9
Pin Up Girl
G-VBOW
Boeing
B787-9
Pearly Queen
G-VBEL
Boeing
B787-9
Lady Freedom
G-VNYL
Boeing
B787-9
Penny Lane
G-VWOO
Boeing
B787-9
Leading Lady
G-VLUX
Airbus
A350-1041
Red Velvet
G-VPOP
Airbus
A350-1041
Mamma Mia
G-VPRD
Airbus
A350-1041
Rain Bow
G-VJAM
Airbus
A350-1041
Queen of Hearts
G-VDOT
Airbus
A350-1041
Ruby Slipper
G-VRNB
Airbus
A350-1041
Purple Rain
G-VTEA
Airbus
A350-1041
Rosie Lee
G-VEVE
Airbus
A350-1041
Fearless Lady
G-VLIB
Airbus
A350-1041
Lady Emmeline
Decommissioned
G-VAEL
Airbus
A340-300
Maiden Toulouse
G-VBUS
Airbus
A340-300
Lady in Red
G-VFLY
Airbus
A340-300
Dragon Lady
G-VHOL
Airbus
A340-300
Jetstreamer
G-VSEA
Airbus
A340-300
Plane Sailing
G-VSKY
Airbus
A340-300
China Girl
G-VAIR
Airbus
A340-300
Maiden Tokyo
G-VELD
Airbus
A340-300
African Queen
G-VFAR
Airbus
A340-300
Molly
G-VSUN
Airbus
A340-300
Rainbow Lady
G-VNAP
Airbus
A340-642
Sleeping Beauty Rejuvenated
G-VATL
Airbus
A340-600
Miss Kitty
G-VBLU
Airbus
A340-600
Soul Sister
G-VBUG
Airbus
A340-600
Lady Bird
G-VEIL
Airbus
A340-600
Queen of the Skies
G-VFIZ
Airbus
A340-600
Bubbles
G-VFOX
Airbus
A340-600
Silver Lady
G-VGAS
Airbus
A340-600
Varga Girl
G-VGOA
Airbus
A340-600
Indian Princess
G-VMEG
Airbus
A340-600
Mystic Maiden
G-VOGE
Airbus
A340-600
Cover Girl
G-VSHY
Airbus
A340-600
Madame Butterfly
G-VSSH
Airbus
A340-600
Sweet Dreamer
G-VWKD
Airbus
A340-600
Miss Behavin
G-VFIT
Airbus
A340-642
Dancing Queen
G-VYOU
Airbus
A340-642
Emmeline Heaney
G-VRED
Airbus
A340-642
Scarlet Lady
G-VWEB
Airbus
A340-642
Surfer Girl
G-VBIG
Boeing
B747-4Q8
Tinker Belle
G-VAST
Boeing
B747-41R
Ladybird
G-VXLG
Boeing
B747-41R
Ruby Tuesday
G-VROS
Boeing
B747-443
Forever Young
G-VGAL
Boeing
B747-443
Jersey Girl
G-VLIP
Boeing
B747-443
Hot Lips
G-VROM
Boeing
B747-443
Barberella
G-VROY
Boeing
B747-443
Pretty Woman
G-VMIA
Boeing
747-100
Spirit of Sir Freddie
G-TKYO
Boeing
747-200
Maiden Japan
G-VCAT
Boeing
747-200
Wild Thing
G-VBEE
Boeing
747-200
Honeypie
G-VGIN
Boeing
747-200
Scarlet Lady
G-VIBE
Boeing
747-200
Spirit of New York
G-VIRG
Boeing
747-200
Maiden Voyager
G-VJFK
Boeing
747-200
Boston Belle
G-VLAX
Boeing
747-200
California Girl
G-VOYG
Boeing
747-200
Shady Lady
G-VPUF
Boeing
747-200
High as a Kite
G-VRGN
Boeing
747-200
Maiden of Honour
G-VRUM
Boeing
747-200
Calypso Queen
G-VSSS
Boeing
747-200
Island Lady
G-VZZZ
Boeing
747-200
Morning Glory
G-VFAB
Boeing
747-400
Lady Peneope
G-VHOT
Boeing
747-400
Tubular Belle
G-VROC
Boeing
747-400
Mustand Sally
G-VTOP
Boeing
747-400
Virginia Plain
G-VWOW
Boeing
747-400
Cosmic Girl
G-VMNK
Airbus
A330-223
Daydream Believer
G-VLUX, Red Velvet, on the ramp in Toulouse getting ready for its delivery flight this weekend