Virgin America Announces New Live In-Flight Television Line-up

Virgin America Announces New Live In-Flight Television Line-up

Award-winning Airline Unveils New Live Satellite TV Channel Line-up on Red(TM) In-Flight Entertainment System

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin America, the California-based airline that is reinventing domestic travel, today unveiled a new live television line-up on its in-flight entertainment platform - Red(TM). As of today, guests on every Virgin America flight will be able to use the Red touch-screen at their seatback to choose from a larger library of in-flight television choices - including more live sports, news and popular programming, as well as exclusive new cached content like Virgin America's "Best of the Web" section - which features popular web-based programming.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090123/VIRGINAMERICALOGO)

"As a new airline that wants to re-think the typical domestic flying experience for the better, we're constantly asking our guests to provide feedback on what's working, what's not and what we can do better," said Porter Gale, Vice President of Marketing for Virgin America. "Red's robust in-flight entertainment platform allows us the opportunity to continually improve content options based on what our flyers actually want. Our tech-forward flyers love the unique web-based content we offer and we also heard loud and clear that access to more live sports programming was key. We're also pleased to add The CW, which will premiere Fly Girls, a docu-series following the lives of five Virgin America in-flight teammates in 2010."

Although Virgin America continually analyzes guest feedback via the Suggestion box on every Red platform and its social media channels, earlier in 2009 the airline asked its Elevate(TM) frequent flyers for their input on the in-flight television line-up and film library. The new line-up reflects that feedback with an eclectic mix of content - from popular sports and a "Best of the Web" section, to more Hollywood blockbusters and indie classics in the onboard film library. With innovative features like fleetwide in-flight WiFi, standard power outlets at every seat and next generation in-flight entertainment, Virgin America has quickly become the airline of choice for tech-savvy travelers. A fall 2009 survey of the airline's Elevate frequent flyers showed that over half of its guests carry a laptop and stay plugged in while they travel. Virgin America recently added additional flights to meet demand for flyers en route to this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

The Red platform offers the largest entertainment library in the domestic skies. In addition to a live satellite television line-up via DISH Network, cached television channels and a 25+ film library at every seat, Red offers videogames, music videos, seat-to-seat chat, 3,000 MP3s, Google Maps, seat-to-seat chat, a first-of-its-kind on-demand food menu and more. In August 2009, Virgin America enabled software upgrades to the Linux-based Red that allowed for more content and even greater functionality and speed. In October 2009, Virgin America won the World Airline Entertainment Association's (WAEA) Avion Award for best in-flight entertainment system.

New live television channels on Red now include: The CW (KTLA-TV), E!, Bravo, CBS (WCBS-TV), TNT and WGN America. As the first domestic airline to offer innovative, tech-savvy in-flight amenities and fleetwide WiFi, Virgin America's new "Best of the Web" platform appropriately features wildly popular web-based programming like Ted Talks, Revision3 and Campus MovieFest. The full list of live satellite television channels now available on Red includes:

                                        BRAVO                               CBS (WCBS-TV/New York)                                        CNBC                                         CNN                                   Comedy Central                            The CW (KTLA-TV/Los Angeles)                                     CURRENT TV                                       DISNEY                                         E!                                        ESPN                                       ESPN 2                                    ESPN Classic                                      ESPN News                                         FOX                                         FX                                        MSNBC                                         MTV                                     NICKELODEON                                        Syfy                                         TNT                                         USA                                     WGN America     

Cached or static television channels on Red include: Current TV, Fox Cable, Boing Boing, Syfy and Disney.

Virgin America offers travelers low fares and high-tech features, including standard power outlets near every seat, Gogo® In-flight Internet on every flight http://www.virginamerica.com/va/press/2009/May/Virgin_America_First_Airline_to _Offer_Fleetwide_WiFi.html and the Red platform, which offers touch-screen and remote control interactivity and a wealth of content and options, including:

   --  "Watch": 24 channels of live satellite TV and cached specialty       channels, 25+ on-demand films, premium TV like HBO and an on-demand       music video library;   --  "Eat": A first-of-its-kind on-demand menu system that allows guests to       order what they want, when they want it during a flight;   --  "Play": A variety of videogames, including cult favorites like DOOM,       navigated by a Qwerty keyboard handset at every seat;   --  "Talk": A seat-to-seat chat feature inside the aircraft, so guests can       chat with someone in a nearby seat;   --  "Journey": Interactive Google Maps that zoom at 8 levels and track the       aircraft in-flight;   --  "Shop": An on-demand shopping section;   --  "Listen": A 3,000 MP3 library and platform to create playlists       in-flight.    

Launched in August 2007, Virgin America has won a growing list of reader-based travel industry awards, including top honors as "Best Domestic Airline" in Conde Nast Traveler's 2009 Readers' Choice Awards. In October 2009, the airline won the World Airline Entertainment Association's (WAEA) Avion award for best in-flight entertainment.

Virgin America flies to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego, Boston, Orange County and Fort Lauderdale. The airline currently offers daily flights from: SFO to LAX, SFO to JFK, SFO to SAN, SFO to IAD, SFO to LAS, LAX to JFK, LAX to IAD, SFO to SEA, SEA to LAX, JFK to LAS, BOS to LAX, BOS to SFO, SFO to SNA and LAX to FLL and SFO to FLL.

For more details and information on the new Red entertainment lineup, please visit http://www.virginamerica.com/va/vaDifference.do

EDITORS NOTE: Virgin America is a U.S. controlled and operated airline. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group is a minority share investor in Virgin America.

About Virgin America: Headquartered in California and launched in August 2007, Virgin America is one of the fastest growing start-up U.S. airlines of all time and currently employs over 1500 people. Virgin America offers guests attractive fares and a host of innovative features aimed at reinventing air travel. The airline's base of operations is San Francisco International Airport's modern International Terminal. The airline's new aircraft offer interactive in-flight entertainment systems, power outlets near every seat and fleetwide in-flight internet. The airline was named "Best Domestic Airline" in the Conde Nast Traveler 2008 and 2009 Readers' Choice Awards and in Travel + Leisure's 2008 and 2009 World's Best Awards. For more please visit: www.virginamerica.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090123/VIRGINAMERICALOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Source: Virgin America

CONTACT: Patricia Condon of Virgin America, +1-650-906-8147,
patricia.condon@virginamerica.com

Web Site: http://www.virginamerica.com/

---

Profile: International Entertainment