Citroen Strike Van Deal With Virgin Atlantic
April 13, 2012 at 07:44 pm By Susie Middleton | Posted in Citroen
This blog looks at the new partnership created between French vehicle manufacturer, Citroen, and British airline, Virgin Atlantic
This week, it has been announced that the French firm Citroen has founded an agreement with Richard Branson's airline, Virgin Atlantic, in which the company will be provided with a range of Citroen commercial vehicles to be used in their fleet in the United Kingdom.
One Hundred Vans To Be Ordered By Virgin Airline
The agreement is for Citroen to provide Virgin with around one hundred light commercial vehicles, as the airline seek to replace their current fleet with better equipped and more fuel efficient vans. So far, there has been an order placed for 45 Euro 5 Citroen light commercial vehicles, including 22 Berlingo five-seat Crew Vans, Dispatch vans, Relay Specialist Dropsides and a Relay Specialist Luton van. Once the fleet has been fully replaced, at least one hundred vans will have been ordered by Virgin Atlantic.
image courtesy of justauto.co.uk
The airline has ordered a wide range of Citroen vans for use right across their company. The aircraft engineers of Virgin Atlantic, who strive to keep the long-haul aircraft in operational condition, will use the five-seater Berlingo Crew Vans.
The Dispatch vans are to be employed for long distance travel between airports, not just within the United Kingdom but also to mainland Europe. This is in order to collect and deliver time-critical aircraft parts and equipment.
The majority of the Relay Specialist Dropsides will be under the control of the stores teams, and will be used to carry items like aircraft wheels and tyres. The Relay Specialist Luton vans will be covered head to toe in Virgin Atlantic's distinctive colours and badges. These will be located at London Heathrow airport. Here the Luton vans will be under the ownership of the facilities maintenance crew. This division is Virgin Atlantic's handymen, who transport anything from paint to furniture between airports and other company buildings.
Citroen Vans Will Help Reduce Virgin's Emissions
There has been a target set for Virgin Atlantic to reduce their CO2 emission per passenger mile by 30% between 2007 and 2020.
Virgin Atlantic Logistics manager, Matt Neville, stated this week: 'When it comes to the combination of low emissions and low whole-life costs, Citroen were always top of our list'.
It was Matt Neville's idea to introduce the clean, reliable and fuel efficient Citroen vans to Virgin Atlantic's fleet. This move has greatly impressed Virgin's top bosses, who have recently decided to award Mr. Neville the Virgin Atlantic's Hero Award for sustainability.
Due to differing tasks that have been set for each Citroen light commercial vehicle, their respective mileages will differ hugely. Whilst the vans posted within airports will expect to only clock up arounf 5,000 miles a year, the long distance Citroen Dispatch division will cover around 350 miles every day!
'Because our vehicle usage varies so greatly we have moved away from leasing to direct purchase as it enables us to replace the vans as and when needed, rather than having to stick to a particular timetable,' Neville went on to say.
This looks like the beginning of a long relationship with Citroen for Virgin Atlantic. If it proves successful, do you think the rest of Virgin's companies would consider switching to Citroen? Let us know in the comments section below.
