Virgin America is landing in Philadelphia!

On April 10th, Virgin will also launch two daily nonstop flights between PHL and San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

Philadelphia is celebrating Virgin’s arrival – Flight 10 from LAX with a Philly-style event featuring the City’s iconic Mummers, the Eagles cheerleaders and cast members from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

“This is a great day for Philadelphia and our Airport,” said Mayor Michael A. Nutter. “We are thrilled that travelers in our region now have convenient access to Virgin America’s award-winning service. This new service to the West Coast will stimulate our regional economy and give travelers more choices. It’s a pleasure to welcome Virgin America to our Airport family, and I congratulate this fine airline for recognizing the value of doing business with our great city.”

“We are very excited to bring Virgin America’s unique brand to Philadelphia,” said Virgin America President and CEO David Cush. “Our new customers will experience in-flight amenities that are best in class and traveler-friendly service that is a model for our industry. We look forward to a long partnership with Philadelphia International Airport.”

Virgin America, which launched in 2007, is the first new airline to start service at PHL in eight years. Shortly after Virgin announced in January that it was coming to Philadelphia, Alaska Airlines – another award-winning carrier – announced that it was starting nonstop service between PHL and its hub in Seattle beginning in June.

In Virgin America, Philadelphia is getting an airline that has amassed a litany of travel industry awards and recognition since its debut just 5 years ago. The numerous industry best-in-class honors include “Best Domestic Airline,” Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards for four consecutive years; “Best Domestic Airline,” Conde Nast Traveler’s 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Reader’s Choice Awards; and Air Transport World 2011 Industry Achievement Awards for Best Passenger Service.

“We are committed to bring the finest air service to the traveling public of this great region. Virgin America has established itself as a standard bearer in the air travel industry, and we are very excited that our Airport customers have the option of choosing this terrific service to fly to the West Coast,” said Rina Cutler, Deputy Mayor, Transportation and Utilities.

Virgin America’s mission is to “make flying good again – with brand new planes, attractive fares, topnotch service and a host of innovative amenities.” The airline’s fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft features custom-designed mood-lit cabins, WiFi, power outlets, comfortable and roomy leather seats, and an in-flight entertainment system offering personal seatback touch-screen TV with 35 on-demand movies and 24 channels of live TV, interactive Google maps, on-demand digital shopping, videogames, seat-to-seat chat messaging, a 3000 song library and an on-demand menu enabling passengers to order food and drinks during their flight.

“We believe our customers are going to absolutely love this airline and their exceptional service,” said Airport CEO Mark Gale. “The Virgin America brand is cutting-edge and offers a very unique in-flight experience. I welcome Virgin America to Philadelphia and thank them for bringing their service to our region’s travelers.”

Virgin America will operate out of Terminal E, joining 29 airlines that currently offer nearly 600 daily departures to over 120 cities including more than 55 nonstop flights to 36 international cities. Philadelphia is the 5th city that Virgin America has added to its 17-city network in the last year. In addition to Los Angeles and San Francisco, Virgin serves New York City, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Cabos, Cancun, Chicago, Puerto Vallarta and Palm Springs.