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Virgin Atlantic has now taken delivery of two new A330-300 aircraft, to be used on long-haul leisure routes and featuring a two-class layout. The 312-seat aircraft, the seat map for which is shown here, offers 253 seats in economy and 59 in premium economy.

The carrier has a total of ten A330s on order, and subsequent deliveries are expected to offer a three-class layout including Upper Class.

The new aircraft feature Virgin's brand new Panasonic IFE system, with touchscreen capabilities on both the main screen and the handset (premium economy only).

In a release the carrier says that passengers can “swipe across screens, scroll through text and instantly jump around the system, with a touch of a fingertip, using the sharpest graphics and full scale screen animations”. Features of the new system include the ability to rate content with a thumbs up or down, the option to bookmark content for later in the flight, a travel tips section where passengers can leave their own suggestions, and live web news from Sky as well as hourly Sky News and Sports bulletins.

The premium economy cabin also features touch screen remote control handsets, allowing passengers to follow the system’s moving map display without having to switch away from the entertainment on the main screen.

Customers in premium economy can play content from “a variety” of mobile devices through the seatback screens, and passengers in all classes can view content through a USB port.

Virgin says that users will only ever be three clicks away from viewing content on the new system. The carrier says it will also introduce the capability to send and receive emails and texts on Blackberries, PDAs and other mobile devices later this year.