Virgin Atlantic, TCS Ink 7-Year Partnership to Modernise Airline's Core System With AI-led Solutions

India's largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services on Tuesday announced a seven-year extended partnership with Virgin Atlantic to modernise the airline's core systems with AI-led solutions that will amplify personalised, connected, sustainable experiences.

The companies did not divulge the financial details of the deal, which expands a two-decade-long strategic partnership between the two organisations.

"Under this renewed seven-year agreement, the two organisations will deepen their collaboration to strengthen the technological foundations of Virgin Atlantic, enable modern airline retailing, deliver greater operational resilience, and enhance customer experience," according to a release.

As part of this long-term engagement, TCS will modernise Virgin Atlantic's core technology operations by implementing a cloud-first, AI-powered digital core that enhances business agility, improves resilience of systems, and allows for higher scale of operations.

TCS will implement a modern, AI-powered technology estate that will unify the airline's technology assets and deploy an advanced technology command centre. This will serve as the nerve centre for transforming Virgin Atlantic's technology operations.

Virgin Atlantic's technology command centre, co-developed with TCS, will provide real-time operational insights to enhance decision-making, streamline technology operations and empower front line staff with up to date, contextual data.

According to the companies, this will support the elevation of both customer and crew experiences, enabling efficient, smarter and more sustainable journeys, and hyper-personalised customer experience across every touchpoint of airline travel.

Oli Byers, Chief Financial Officer, Virgin Atlantic, said, "As we look ahead to this next phase of our digital transformation, technology will enable us to deliver smarter, simpler, and more memorable experiences. TCS has been a partner for more than two decades and together we'll continue to build towards our vision of becoming the most loved travel company, powered by AI technology to modernise our systems, drive efficiency and deliver for our customers." With deep aviation expertise and contextual knowledge, TCS will utilise its proprietary solutions such as TCS Cognix and TCS AI WisdomNext to drive transformation, enable experience-centric services, and enhance service delivery.

TCS' bouquet of technology solutions will support Virgin Atlantic in building a resilient and sustainable digital core, enabling the airline to innovate continuously while delivering value across revenue, efficiency, and customer experience metrics, and become sustainably profitable.

These solutions will be delivered through a dedicated onsite team of TCS associates equipped with a deep contextual knowledge of Virgin Atlantic's environment, the release said.

Amit Kapur, Country Head - UK and Ireland, Tata Consultancy Services, said: "At TCS, we believe being perpetually adaptive is a necessity in today's dynamic business landscape. Our two-decade partnership with Virgin Atlantic is a testament to a shared vision." By combining deep aviation expertise with advanced capabilities in data, AI, and engineering, TCS is helping Virgin Atlantic build intelligent, scalable digital ecosystems and redefine the future of travel, he added.

TCS has been a transformation partner to Virgin Atlantic which ferried over 5 million passengers worldwide in 2024 and connects over 30 destinations globally.

According to the release, TCS' industry knowledge will help Virgin Atlantic unlock new growth opportunities and drive innovation across its entire business ecosystem.