Talking To: Steve Ridgway

Virgin Atlantic Airways has long had a reputation as being one to stand out from the crowd. Its signature hot-red cabin uniforms, interiors and liveries are one thing, making its models (both human and automobile), stand-out on billboards and the runway alike. Provocative slogans are another: ‘Still Red Hot for 25 Years’, and ‘Your Airline’s Either Got It Or It Hasn’t’, raise a cheeky smile to people’s lips. There’s nothing stuffy about this airline.

Its hot, sexy image is what’s made it appealing to business and leisure travellers alike, and sitting down with Steve Ridgway, CEO of Virgin Atlantic Airways, one feels that he’s a proud man overseeing his fleet of beauties with names like ‘Scarlet Lady’ and ‘Lady Penelope’. Ridgway, who has been with Virgin Atlantic since 1989, is one of the earliest employers in business magnate Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, and has been the driving force behind some significant air travel breakthroughs. These include opening the first long-haul route between Shanghai and London in 1999.

“We really wanted to fly here,” he says, reflecting on his decision to introduce Virgin Atlantic to the cosmopolitan city of the East. “We said for a long time that we would like to ultimately fly the famous triangle which is Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. But getting the rights was very difficult. I think the issue was that [in 1999] it was very close to the hand-back of Hong Kong, and of course there was a lot of friction between the UK and China.”

There was additionally the risk of possible complications because of traffic rights and permissions to fly into China, Ridgway explains. “There’s a feedback hearing process that happens, with the government in London and with the civil aviation authorities. We had to go in front of the government and make our case about why we were the best carrier to fly into China and open up the Shanghai market over British Airways.”

This was especially difficult considering that up until 1999 there had been fierce competition between the two British carriers. Virgin Atlantic and British Airways had been long term rivals since the 1980s, the latter often securing long-haul routes Virgin was hoping to open up. “All our history has been operating against British Airways; British Airways was always on the routes we competed with, no matter where we went: Boston, New York, etc.”

But Virgin Atlantic made a significant breakthrough in securing the first route as the number one carrier in Shanghai in 1999 and now as a result sees an impressive number of Chinese tourists travelling with Virgin Atlantic to visit the UK every year. “We put forward such a strong case that we were actually chosen over British Airways to open up the route. I’m quite proud; that we achieved that against our big gorilla friends that we’re always fighting with. It may sound like a silly story but in Virgin’s growth and development, it was a really seminal moment that we found ourselves on the route as the number one carrier.”

“Now we’ve been flying for a long time: to Hong Kong since ‘94, and Shanghai obviously since ‘99. And we would like to fly to Beijing at some point as well.”