Virgin Atlantic economy class will now have THREE new types of seats – fancy, normal and no-frills

VIRGIN Atlantic has announced three new types of economy tickets in a huge shake-up to its services.

From spring customers can choose to fly “economy delight”, “economy classic” or “economy plus”.

Economy delight seats will get 34 inch seat pitches and priority check-in and boarding.

There will be the choice of where their seat is on the plane for these seats.

Economy classic seats - the traditional standard Economy fare - will have smaller 31 inch seat pitches.

Customers on economy classic will get to choose where their seat is situated  too– which is good news for families who want to sit together.

The Economy Light seats, with a 31 inch seat pitch will be the cheapest fares that Virgin offer with no checked baggage, offering travellers on a budget the most affordable fares.

All customers will continue to be served food, drink and and will have an inflight entertainment system from their seats.

Craig Kreeger, Chief Executive of Virgin Atlantic, said: “We’re unveiling the biggest change to our economy cabin in over a decade.

“We’re launching three new ways to fly, and a host of innovations on the ground and in the air as part of a wider £300 million investment in our customers.

“We know that one size doesn’t fit all, and from spring our customers can afford to be choosy and still travel in the UK’s leading economy cabin."

Craig continued: “We always want flying with Virgin Atlantic to be more special than other airlines, and we’ll never compromise on excellent service, industry leading food and drink and cutting edge inflight entertainment – regardless of which economy ticket our customers are travelling on, they’ll be able to enjoy all this onboard.”

Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Atlantic, added: “When I started Virgin Atlantic I wanted to challenge the status quo and make flying amazing – regardless of which cabin you’re in - and that’s still true today.

“We’re unveiling a multimillion pound investment to make Virgin Atlantic’s economy cabin the best of any UK airline and setting the bar for others to follow.”

The announcement is a contrast to British Airways’ announcement from earlier in the week about their plans for economy.

While their passengers will benefit from a larger screen on the back of seats, BA is also going to be squeezing more seats into its economy cabins.