London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 10, 2025

No uniform choice for Virgin Atlantic crew on World Cup flight

No uniform choice for Virgin Atlantic crew on World Cup flight

Virgin Atlantic has said its gender-neutral uniform policy does not apply to the crew on board the England team's flight to the World Cup in Qatar.

The airline announced a "fluid approach" to uniforms in September that it said allowed staff to choose their attire "no matter their gender".

But a spokeswoman told BBC News the crew for Tuesday's flight to Doha would not be able to choose their uniform.

Virgin said a plane displaying an LGBT icon would be used for the journey.

There has been criticism of human rights in Qatar and its treatment of LGBT people ahead of the World Cup.

Qatar has said all fans will be welcomed to the tournament "without discrimination".

Explaining why the gender-neutral uniform policy did not apply to Tuesday's flight, Virgin Atlantic said it was being rolled out in countries "more accepting of non-binary identities".

"Initially the UK, US and Israel are the territories where the uniform policy is being rolled out for our people, as those countries are more accepting of non-binary identities allowing more self-expression," it said.

Virgin explained that it considers safety and risk in destinations "on a case by case basis to ensure the safety and security of our people and customers at all times".

The airline, which does not usually operate to Qatar, did not set out this caveat in a press release announcing the new uniform policy in September.

A plane displaying an LGBT icon was selected for the six-hour charter flight from Birmingham airport to the Qatari capital, the airline said.

The A350 plane, named "Rain Bow" and carrying the image of a man holding a union flag wearing shoes with a rainbow motif on its fuselage, flew Gareth Southgate's team to Doha.

The Football Association (FA) said that, while it did not choose the plane, it was more than happy to fly on it.

It is illegal to be homosexual in Qatar, and same-sex relationships can be punishable by death.

Footballers, including England captain Harry Kane, have taken a stand in support of the LGBT community in recent months.

Kane has said he intends to wear his One Love rainbow captain armband during World Cup matches, even if it is not approved for use by the football's global governing body, Fifa, which runs the World Cup.

An FA spokesperson said: "We show our support for inclusion in many ways, including wearing the One Love Armband during the tournament".


Virgin Atlantic announced in September that staff could choose their own uniforms, including a trousers or skirt

Earlier this year, LGBT organisations engaging with Fifa said "progress has been slow" in ensuring the safety of LGBT fans - and that reassurances from Qatar had "not been adequate".

In response, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly advised LGBT fans show "a little bit of flex and compromise" if they travel to the tournament.

Mr Cleverly, who will travel to Qatar, said fans travelling from England and Wales should be "respectful of the host nation".

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's official spokesman later said LGBT fans should not be expected to "compromise who they are" if they visit Qatar for the World Cup.

Some politicians, including Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, said they would not attend the tournament due to Qatar's human rights record.

Wales's First Minister, Labour's Mark Drakeford, is expected to attend.

The England team are expected to land in Qatar at around 20:00 local time and arrive at their team base at about 21:00 GMT.

The UK government's World Cup travel advice sets out the legal status of homosexuality in Qatar and the assurances given by its authorities.

The first match of the tournament will be between Qatar and Ecuador on 20 November. England's first game is against Iran on 21 November.

Announcing the gender-neutral uniform policy in September, Virgin Atlantic said staff, including crew, pilots, and ground teams, could choose to wear a uniform including either a trousers or a skirt.

It described the policy as one element of a campaign to allow LGBT staff and passengers to express themselves, including through optional pronoun badges for all staff and those travelling with the airline.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
×