Virgin Atlantic announce 4 New Routes
Virgin Atlantic have announced four new routes from across the United Kingdom, including a return to Edinburgh - as the long haul carrier looks to capitalise on the increase in passengers to the Caribbean and leisure destinations.
Today (11 August 2021), Virgin Atlantic announced four new routes to start in Winter 2021*. These are:
- London Heathrow to St Lucia - 3x weekly flights starting 18 December 2021
- Manchester to Montego Bay - 3x weekly flights starting 6 November 2021
- Edinburgh to Bridgetown (Barbados) - 2x weekly flights starting 5 December 2021
- Edinburgh to Orlando International - 2x weekly flights starting 30 March 2022
London Heathrow to St Lucia:
Virgin Atlantic cut its London Gatwick to St Lucia route in 2020 after the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority said it “could not meet the proposals from Virgin Atlantic” which led to the decision to withdraw its UK service(1).
This is Virgin Atlantic's only route into St Lucia and enlarges the long haul carrier's network to 9 Caribbean destinations - which has seen St Vincent Argyle added to its network in 2021. Additionally, this follows the new Nassau route announced last week, which is proposed to launch in November 2021 (read more here: https://seanm1997.blogspot.com/2021/08/virgin-atlantic-to-launch-london.html)
British Airways offered a direct flight to St Lucia from London Heathrow during the peak summer in 2021 and will return to the route over the Christmas and New Year period. Additionally, British Airways and TUI Airways operate a London Gatwick to St Lucia route.
Virgin Atlantic plan to operate three weekly flights between London Heathrow and St Lucia for Winter 2021. Flight timings will be updated in due course.
Manchester to Montego Bay
Following Virgin Atlantic announcing last week a new London Heathrow to Nassau route, it became apparent that the route would continue to Montego Bay in Jamaica. Now, they are increasing seats from the UK to Montego Bay again with three weekly flights from its Northern hub of Manchester to the Jamaican beach destination.
The route will compete directly with TUI Airways who fly the route three times weekly in Winter 2021. This route increases the number of Virgin Atlantic destinations to seven and is the second Caribbean destination from Manchester with Virgin Atlantic, following Barbados which was recently increased to five weekly flights this winter.
Image: Virgin Atlantic's network from Manchester for Winter 2021/Summer 2022 (some routes are seasonal) (subject to change) (GC Map)
Edinburgh to Barbados and Orlando International
Virgin Atlantic last served Edinburgh under its Little Red brand with multiple daily flights to London Heathrow, but are now proposing to serve two long haul destinations from the Scottish capital. Both routes are proposed to operated with a W-route rotation. Both Barbados and Orlando International will be new destinations for Edinburgh, with no direct competition, although TUI Airways maintain six flights to Orlando Melbourne during the Summer 2022 on sale.
The Edinburgh to Barbados route will commence on 5 December 2021 and operate two weekly flights whilst the Edinburgh to Orlando International route will commence at the start of the Summer 2022 season and operate twice weekly.
As a result of the new Edinburgh to Orlando International route, Virgin Atlantic's existing Glasgow to Orlando International will be cut. This in part due to Virgin Atlantic's partnership with Delta (which has a New York JFK - Edinburgh route), this Central Belt co-location may help with cost saving as well as diversifying the network, capitalising on the increase in leisure travel predicted in the coming months.
Further Virgin Atlantic news and updates expected in due course.
Sources:
Photo - Flight review: Virgin Atlantic B787-9 Upper Class – Business Traveller
Images - http://www.gcmap.com/
(1) - https://travelweekly.co.uk/articles/338693/virgin-to-drop-st-lucia-service-after-21-years
Comments
Post a Comment