Virgin America wins 8 slots at Reagan Airport, can’t stop gushing

Virgin America is a happy airline now. The San Francisco based airline cannot stop gushing about the eight newly purchased take off and landing slots at none other than Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The big commercial player American Airlines recently vacated these slots soon after the authorities gave a green signal to its merger with US Airways.

The airline at present offers airline tickets to passengers for over 23 domestic and international destinations. It is more amused with the win over the slots for a simple fact that these are popular with the political and business communities within and outside of the U.S.

The airline had been enthusiastically bidding for these slots. Apart from this airline, there are a few other winners. Southwest Airlines got lucky to walk away with 54 slots, while JetBlue Airways managed to fetch 40 slots including the ones that it had been leasing. Overall, these slots will help the airline streamline its strategies for the airport and align flights to routes that benefit it the most.

The airline, which is a part of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, has been offering smooth connections to passengers since its inception in the year 2004. The airline is however disappointed about not being able to launch direct service to San Francisco. It is upbeat about its future and intends to announce its new flight schedule later this month basis its slots at La Guardia and Regan Airports.