Virgin Atlantic Airways has bought six A330-300 aircraft from Airbus and leased four more from AerCap under a new contract.

The long-range A330 seats up to 270 passengers in a three-class configuration, and can fly a distance of 5,850nm at a speed of Mach 0.86.

The air carrier will use the plane to strengthen services between the UK, North America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia for both business and leisure markets.

The twin-engine aircraft will be Virgin’s launch aircraft for onboard cabin innovations in every class.

The A330 fleet will joint the carrier’s current Airbus constellation of six A340-300s, 19 A340-600 and six A380s.