British airline Virgin Atlantic was an early adopter of the A340; in addition to operating several A340-300 aircraft, Virgin Atlantic announced in August 1997 that it was to be the worldwide launch customer for the new A340-600.
A compañía británica Virgin Atlantic foi das primeiras en adoptar o modelo; ademais de operar varios A340-300, en agosto de 1997 Virgin anunciou que sería o cliente de lanzamento do novo A340-600.