I flew Virgin Atlantic from London to New York to see if Richard Branson's airline is still one of the world's best - here's the verdict

Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider

Our Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330 Beauty Queen.

• Virgin Atlantic Airways is the crown jewel of Sir Richard Branson's aviation portfolio.
• I recently flew Virgin Atlantic from London Heathrow to New York's JFK International Airport.
• VA's service, style, and entertainment options lived up to expectations while its economy seat comfort left much to be desired.

Virgin Atlantic is a survivor. For most of its 34-year history, the plucky British airline has been taking the fight to larger and more established rivals.

Through it all, Virgin Atlantic has survived everything from the economic recession to an underhanded smear campaign by British Airways during the early 1990s.

Even though several airlines around the have worn Virgin Group livery including Virgin Australia and the soon to disappear Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic has always been Sir Richard's baby. After all, the billionaire sold his once prized Virgin Records in 1992 to keep the airline afloat.

In late 2012, Willie Walsh, CEO of British Airways' parent company IAG, bet Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson that his airline would be out of business within five years. Loser gets kneed in the crotch.

Now with Delta and Air France-KLM holding 80% of its shares, Virgin Atlantic is not only still flying, but in a stronger position as ever. And to my knowledge, Sir Richard had yet to collect on the bet.

With roughly 45 planes in its fleet, Virgin Atlantic isn't a very big airline. British Airways, for example, has more than 270 planes while a major US legacy carrier like Delta has nearly 900 mainline jets in its inventory.

However, the crown jewel of Sir Richard Branson's aviation portfolio is certainly influential. From its mood light drenched cabins to its stylish dressed staff, Virgin delivers service with a style and flair all its own.

On a recent business trip to the UK, I decided to fly Virgin Atlantic bread and butter route between New York and London. It's arguably the most competitive route in a highly lucrative trans-Atlantic airline market. On the flight out from Newark Liberty International Airport, I took VS02 one of the airline's original routes dating back to its days as a one plane operation.

Since it was an evening flight that took off at 10:30 pm, I decided to document my afternoon flight back from London.

Here's a closer look at my most recent on Virgin Atlantic Airways: