Virgin Atlantic has announced new fights from Manchester and London Heathrow with services commencing from October 2020 onwards.
For the first time, Virgin Atlantic will fly to India from Manchester starting October 26. Along with the airline’s double daily service from Heathrow to Delhi and daily service from Heathrow to Mumbai, the airline will now offer over 600,000 seats per year between the UK and India. The new thrice a week service – on a Monday, Thursday and Saturday – will fly on an A330-200 aircraft. Return Economy fares start from £535 per person. Flights are on sale from March 3, 2020 at www.virginatlantic.com.
From January 2021, customers will now have more opportunities to fly to Barbados in the Caribbean. In addition to daily flights from Gatwick and a seasonal flight from Heathrow in winter, Virgin Atlantic will now fly a Boeing 747 three times a week on a Monday, Thursday and Saturday from Manchester. Return Economy fares from £564 per person.
In addition, Virgin Atlantic will add a daily seasonal winter service to Cape Town service from Heathrow complementing the existing daily A350 service to Johannesburg. Flying on a 787-9 aircraft, this new service launches on 25 October. The VS478 will operate as a night flight departing Heathrow at 16:20 arriving into Cape Town at 05:55 whereas the inbound, the VS479, will depart at 08:00, arriving 18:00. Return Economy fares start from £713 per person.
Further, as the only UK airline flying direct to Havana, Virgin Atlantic will add an additional weekly service to the city. Now flying three times a week on a Tuesday, Friday and Sunday on a 787-9 aircraft, Virgin Atlantic is offering 45 percent more capacity to the city compared to winter 2019. Return Economy fares are from £696 per person.
Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer, Virgin Atlantic commented: ‘2020 is an extremely exciting year of continued growth for Virgin Atlantic and increasing our presence out of Manchester is a huge focus for us. Not only are we the headline sponsor of the Manchester Pride Festival but we’re delighted to announce a new service flying three times a week from Manchester to Delhi, additional capacity into Barbados from Manchester as well as a Clubhouse opening this summer. This year will also see Flybe transform into Virgin Connect, and we’re excited to offer customers flying from the north 47 daily flights throughout the UK, Ireland and across Europe.’
‘2020 marks our 20th anniversary of flying to India and as the destination continues to grow in popularity for both business and leisure travel, we’re thrilled to fly to Delhi for very first time from Manchester, our home in the north. Additionally, we look forward launching new services from Heathrow to Sao Paulo and Cape Town as well as increasing capacity on our Heathrow to Havana route.’
