Virgin America Files for US IPO after Winning Best Domestic Airline

Virgin America Inc., the San Francisco-based airline, announced Monday that it has filed for registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an Initial Public Offering of its common stock.

The affordable U.S. airline, which first started flying in 2007, is partly owned by billionaire Richard Branson and the plans to go public reflect the airline's ambition to strengthen its growth.

The number of shares and the price has yet to be determined. The application is still in the registration stage and "Barclays and Deutsche Bank Securities are acting as joint book-running managers and as representatives of the underwriters for the proposed offering," the company said in a statement.

News of the IPO comes just days after Virgin America was rated the top airline by readers of Travel + Leisure magazine. The airline won the title for the seventh consecutive time.

"Winning this award is one of the highest honors in our industry. It reflects the opinions of some of the world's most discerning travelers and shows that seven years after our launch as a new carrier, we're continuing to deliver on our promise of creating a different kind of domestic airline," David Cush, CEO of Virgin America was quoted by the Business Journal.

Below are the winners.

Domestic:

1.      Virgin America

2.      Jetblue Airways

3.      Hawaiian Airlines

4.      Southwest Airlines

5.      Alaska Airlines

International:

1.      Singapore Airlines

2.      Emirates

3.      Cathay Pacific Airways

4.      Virgin Atlantic Airways

5.      Asiana Airlines

According to Forbes, Virgin America caters to the leisure travel market effectively, which is why the airline has been a favorite. They have great in-flight service, friendly crew members and well-designed cabins, which bolsters the airline to the top of the fleet.