Source: PR Newswire 30/07/2004

Virgin Atlantic is delighted to announce it will be the first airline to offer language learning courses as part of its inflight entertainment system from the 1st August 2004.

The airline has teamed up with Linguaphone to offer courses which teach passengers to understand and speak a new language by listening with no need for written material. The first courses to be introduced are Spanish for English speakers and English for Spanish speakers.

Rebecca Smith, Virgin Atlantic's Manager of Acquisitions and Publishing, said:

"We are very excited to offer this first in the world of inflight entertainment. We are sure that our passengers will find using the Linguaphone service both educational and fun. Passengers can learn basic phrases or can brush up on fluent conversation, which is perfect for business or leisure travellers."

"We hope to expand the selection of languages available in the future to include Chinese and Japanese to link in with our routes to the Far East."

Richard Avery, Managing Director of Linguaphone, commented:

"Being able to speak even just a few words of a language makes a holiday or trip abroad so much more enjoyable. These courses have been specially designed to allow passengers to learn whilst relaxing onboard. They work by mixing a great storyline with a step-by-step introduction to the language so you get to have some fun and discover a new language at the same time."