Virgin Group looking to increase...

Sir Richard Branson said this was something the company “should have done years ago”

Virgin is looking to increase connectivity across its network to make it easier for people to combine different products the company offers on a single trip.

Speaking at a press conference marking the launch of Virgin Atlantic’s new Heathrow-Tampa route at the airport of the Florida city, Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson said this was something the company “should have done years ago”.

He said: “When our third ship comes into service we’ll be operating 100 different routes, including Australia, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, and we are very much now tying everything together through Virgin Red, our frequent flyer programme.

“That’s something I suspect we should have done years ago because we’ve got all these different companies at Virgin so we need to make sure that if people go on a voyage they can fly with Virgin Atlantic and so on. We’re going to be doing a lot more of that.”

Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss confirmed that providing connectivity across the Virgin network was “very much” part of the firm’s approach.

Weiss said: “We call this single red, double red or triple red. If you’re just flying with us that’s great but if you’re flying and taking a holiday with Virgin that’s double red, and if you add a hotel and a voyage, even better. What we’ve found over the years is the more Virgin products an individual purchases the greater the loyalty, as it should be."

He added: “We are very much a co-operation with our partner Virgin companies. That’s part of the approach, to make sure we can provide connectivity across the network.”