BWIA has no sense of humour, says Virgin By Orion Ganase Trinidad Express 11.13.02 BRITISH airline Virgin Atlantic Airways has suggested local carrier BWIA does not have a sense of humour, after a press advertisement run by Virgin poked fun at BWIA. "We thought that BWIA had the Trini sense of humour, which is basically to poke fun," said Rachel Pilgrim, sales and marketing manager of Virgin Atlantic in the Caribbean. Pilgrim said the airline, led by UK magnate Richard Branson, used topical advertising in the promotion of company products. "Not to harm anyone," she said "but to ruffle a few feathers and make people smile." In its advertisement, which appeared on Sunday in two local newspapers, Virgin Atlantic changed the letter W in BWIA to a V with the slogan "Better Virgin. It's Available". Pilgrim said the ad was not intended as an attack on BWIA. However, BWIA wrote the Advertising Standards Authority protesting the Virgin Atlantic press ad. Virgin Atlantic is well known for making fun of the competing carriers like American Airlines and British Airways. The airline retains the message "No way AA" and "No way BA" on several of its aircraft. However, do not to expect to see a repeat of the controversial ad, Pilgrim told the Daily Express. It was only intended to be run once to grab consumer attention. The upcoming ads will be of a more conventional nature, she said yesterday. Virgin, which flies to Antigua, Barbados and St Lucia, will be expanding its flights to Tobago in May next year and will be increasing its flights to the Caribbean from seven a week to 16 a week in the next year. However, Pilgrim said Virgin Atlantic had no intention of flying to Trinidad in the near future as there was a lack of proper infrastructure. The British airline boasts a "consumer oriented" service including limousine services, an on-board menu that allows customers to order meals of their choice and competitive fares. Pilgrim said Virgin is not geared towards running BWIA or any other airline out of business, but to provide a choice. Communications director of BWIA, Clint Williams, said that he did not see increased Caribbean flights by Virgin Atlantic as a threat to the national carrier. He pointed out that BWIA has 29 per cent of the flights out of Barbados, the largest percentage. "Virgin and BA have always been competition. BWIA has always had to compete in an international forum and will continue to do so successfully by offering excellent service across the Atlantic,"Williams said. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (I95.5FM) http://www.i955fm.com (Radio Station I95.5FM) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************