Virgin Atlantic names Koster as new CEO as Weiss to step down
- By Reuters -
- Oct 13, 2025
The UK Virgin Atlantic named Corneel Koster as its new chief executive on Monday, promoting the current chief operating officer to the top job from next January as incumbent Shai Weiss will step down after seven years at the helm of the UK airline.
The company said Weiss had decided to step down but did not give a reason.
Koster rejoined Virgin Atlantic as chief commercial officer in 2019 after a stint with Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico. He had served as Virgin Atlantic’s director of operations and security between 2010 and 2013.
“It’s an incredible privilege to take up the role of CEO,” Koster said in a statement.
Koster will become CEO on January 1, 2026.
Weiss, who will leave the company, has worked in the broader Virgin group since 2001, when he joined as a managing director for Virgin Media, according to his LinkedIn account. Before taking over as CEO of Virgin Atlantic in 2019, Weiss served as Virgin Atlantic’s chief financial officer, then the chief commercial officer.
Read Also: Virgin Atlantic announces to ‘resume’ Pakistan flight operations
Virgin Atlantic Airways has announced the resumption of its flight operations to Pakistan.
As per details, Virgin Atlantic will reconnect London with Karachi, Islamabad, and Lahore starting from October this year.
According to aviation sources, the airline, which had suspended its services to Pakistan in 2023, has now been granted permission by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to restart its operations.
The British carrier will operate its flights via Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, linking Pakistan with its global network once again.
The resumption of services is expected to provide passengers with greater travel convenience and renewed connectivity between Pakistan and the United Kingdom.
In 2023, the British airline announced that it would be suspending services between London Heathrow and Lahore and Islamabad.
An airline’s spokesperson said: “As we continue to ramp up our flying programme in 2023, we’ve taken the opportunity to review our entire network and decided to make a few changes.”