Virgin Atlantic announces new flights between the UK and the USA
Virgin Atlantic has announced that the frequency of flights between the UK and the US next summer is increasing. More Virgin Atlantic and Delta planes will fly from both Gatwick and Heathrow, while Delta will start flying from Manchester Airport again.
Between Virgin Atlantic and joint venture partner Delta Air Lines, the number of seats available will increase by 10,000 seats per week. This offers customers unrivalled choice and times when selecting their flights.
Gatwick is one of Virgin Atlantic's main areas of focus, and will also start offering non-stop flights to Boston which will begin on May 22nd, 2020. On May 21st, Virgin Atlantic will also launch a daily flight to New York's JFK from Gatwick.
"We're excited to return to London Gatwick, which is where we launched our first UK destination over 40 years ago as well as Manchester, and continue to grow our international network from Boston," said Roberto Ioriatti, Delta's vice president of Transatlantic flights. "Together with Virgin Atlantic, we are strengthening our presence in the northeast US and in London, offering customers a greater choice of destinations combined with the excellent service they can expect from our airlines."
On March 29th, both Delta and Virgin Atlantic will be increasing capacity between New York's JFK and Heathrow by 15 percent. Delta will increase its services to three daily flights, with Virgin Atlantic operating five. This includes a Delta-operated daytime slot from JFK to Heathrow for the first time, which complements the daytime Boston to Heathrow and JFK to Heathrow services currently offered by Virgin Atlantic.
Virgin Atlantic is also set to increase flights to West Coast hubs, as it increases the frequency of flights from Heathrow to Seattle from seven to 11 flights per week. This represents a 57 per cent growth in seat capacity since Delta originally launched the route in 2014. Services to LA will also rise from 14 to 17 flights per week, with up to three flights per day operating during next year's busy summer months. It will be the second route to be operated by the new Airbus A350 aircraft next year.
Juha Jarvinen, EVP Commercial at Virgin Atlantic, said: "I'm delighted that between us, we're increasing our presence across our hub airports of Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester, reaffirming our commitment to provide our customers with more choice, convenient schedules and an unrivalled customer experience across the Atlantic."