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The arrival of the new Virgin Atlantic Airbus A350 over North Wales got people talking this weekend - with the jet circling above the region on Saturday afternoon.

The passenger jet was Virgin Atlantic’s brand new Airbus A350-1000 - which had flown up from London Gatwick airport on Saturday.

It circled at altitudes of around 8,000 feet before heading back to the capital and landing at Heathrow.

Alongside the new plane - named Red Velvet - were two Strikemaster display pilots in military jets and top aviation photographers Ian Black and Jamie Hunter.

(Image: ma yat ho / Virgin Atlantic)

They had taken off from Hawarden to greet the jet for a "spectacular" photo shoot.

It came about after six months of meticulous planning according to Mr Black.

Pilot Mark Petrie tweeted this message after the shoot.

The results are incredible with amazing images of the plane enjoying a jaunt around the area.

It was a fitting place for a final test flight with the plane's wings made at Airbus Broughton.

This came ahead of the plane's maiden commercial flight today - flying from London Heathrow to JFK airport in New York.

Virgin Atlantic has ordered a total of 12 Airbus A350-1000, with them all scheduled to join the fleet by 2021 in an order worth an estimated $4.4 billion (list price.)

The aircraft, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, continues Virgin Atlantic’s investment in a more sustainable fleet.

(Image: ma yat ho / Virgin Atlantic)

It is is designed to be 30% more fuel and carbon efficient than the aircraft it replaces and is expected to reduce the airline’s noise footprint at its airports by more than half.

This Airbus A350 will also be the first aircraft in Virgin Atlantic’s fleet to feature its new Flying Icons, which are set to replace the airline’s famous Flying Ladies.

The high flyers are a diverse range of men and women representing modern Britain, rolled out on the four A350-1000 aircraft this year, followed by a further eight by 2021.

Mark Anderson, Executive Vice President Customer, at Virgin Atlantic, said: "The introduction of our A350 represents a true evolution of our customer experience.

"We believe flying should be exciting, whether it’s your first or 100th flight with us and that’s why we’ve elevated our offering to provide our customers with something totally unique.

"The A350 forms a significant part of our fleet transformation strategy and by 2022, we’ll have our youngest, cleanest, greenest fleet in the sky as the aircraft transforms our customer experience, reduces our environmental impact and improves our route economics.”