From a web perspective, Virgin Atlantic appears to be leading the pack with its simple but effective online travel agency.

Virgin Atlantic took off slowly in 1984 as just one aircraft. With revenue earned from record sales of the pop group Culture Club, founder Richard Branson indulged his interest in flying by extending the Virgin music label to cover air transportation. Eighteen years later, Virgin Atlantic has 16 aircraft carrying over 3 million passengers a year and market share in excess of 30 percent on several transatlantic routes.

The Internet is an ideal route-to-market for the travel industry and airlines in particular. Most have successfully translated their own internal computer software to public access websites featuring travel information and reservation systems. A look at Virgin’s site reveals a great deal of attention to functionality, which helps bridge the customer service gap created by the lack of an actual travel agent.

The site is very comprehensive – there is unlikely to be a question that isn’t answered here. There are pages explaining in-flight entertainment, special provisions for children, airport parking, baggage allowances, special assistance for the disabled and even tax-free shopping.

In addition to the usual corporate information the Virgin site allows users to view routes, flight schedules, and aircraft layout, before purchasing a ticket. Once the itinerary is in place, you can even check in online.

All of this is offered with a simple layout. The text is concise, colors are strong and fonts are clear. In fact, the site is remarkably easy to navigate. There are file-tab guides throughout, clarifying your position – although it could use a more obvious way “home” after several layers of specific Inquiry.

The site manages to feel very stylish overall, despite the lack of stylized images. Pages load very quickly – possibly because the design is refreshingly uncluttered with photographs.

Frequent flyers are especially well catered for, with an entire section dedicated to earning and spending loyalty points. Links to partner hotels, car rentals and foreign exchange facilities further enhance the breadth of the Virgin online travel agency.

As with most of Sir Richard’s brands, the customer’s needs are understood and a sense of familiarity is conveyed, which leaves one feeling confident in the product.

It is hard to see how an intermediary could add value to the chain when the functionality on offer is so advanced and accessible. It certainly compares well with the equivalent sites from low-cost operators, many of whom rely exclusively on attracting customers via the Internet to keep administration cost down.