I arrived at San Francisco International Airport this past Tuesday with great excitement because I am a longtime fan of Virgin America Airlines and the Independent Film Channel show, Portlandia. I boarded the inaugural flight 816 departing from San Francisco, en route to Portland International Airport to experience their new service first hand.
The hour-and-40-minute flight featured an eclectic list of guests. Passengers who purchased tickets to be a part of the exclusive launch, joined by Virgin America’s CEO David Cush, included Portland Mayor Sam Adams, actor Kyle MacLachlan (of IFC’s Portlandia), members of the media, and four Virgin America grand-prize contest winners who had submitted photos with the TV show’s theme “Put a Bird On It”. (“Put a Bird on It” is the show’s character’s belief that by adding a bird to everything makes it art).
An onboard trivia contest that utilized Virgin America’s in-flight gaming system helped kick off the fun. Additionally, Portlandia aired for the first time on a Virgin America flight (humorous because MacLachlan plays Portland’s mayor, who was actually on-board the flight, in the show).
Upon landing at Portland International Airport, the plane was welcomed with an honorary watering and an exclusive red carpet fan fare, as passengers and invited guests were greeted with champagne as they headed into the airport hanger to celebrate.
I had the opportunity to sit next to Abby Lunardini, vice president of corporate communications at Virgin America who shared why the airline added Portland to their ever growing list of destinations.
“Virgin America has wanted to come into Portland for a long time,” Lunardini said. “Our planes are different, our in-flight entertainment is different. This is a city (known for doing) things differently, and we’re an airline known for shaking up the industry, so we think we’ll be a great fit.”
Virgin America is now offering two flights daily between Portland and Los Angeles and San Francisco. In honor of these new routes, the airline is offering a current fare sale starting at $94 to SFO and $135 to LAX.
Original post @ Exclusive Resorts