AEROMEDIA

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Virgin Express Starts Activity and Expands Former EBA Network in Italy

Virgin Travel Group, owned by the British entrepreneur Richard Branson, enters the European open skies by founding Virgin Express, a low-cost "continental" sister of Virgin Atlantic Airways created in 1984 to compete with long established flag carriers on transatlantic air services.
In April this year, to speed up the process, Virgin acquired 90% share-holding of EuroBelgian Airlines, an aggressive player on the busiest European routes.
EBA was formed in 1991, based at Melsbroek in Belgium, and its fleet expanded to about ten B.737-300s and 400s.
Virgin Express inherits the former EBA network comprising the daily Bruxelles-Milan and the Bruxelles-Rome eleven weekly services.
The new airline, close to receive two more B.737s in the full red corporate livery, on September 2nd 1996 started a daily Rome-Madrid service and, three days later, the extension to Copenaghen of the Rome-Bruxelles flights.

In the picture: Virgin Express Boeing 737-300 OO-VEA with the new livery

(Aeromedia, September 1996)