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