Virgin Atlantic reinstates full US portfolio and increases US capacity

• Airline to restart services to Seattle and Washington DC, completing its full roster of US destinations
• Virgin Atlantic will offer more flights from the UK to Los Angeles and Orlando than any other airline
• Capacity to New York, San Francisco and Atlanta also increasing

Following renewed customer confidence and a strong uptick in bookings, which are up 50% year on year, Virgin Atlantic is reinstating its full portfolio of US destinations for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.  From April the airline will add frequencies and reintroduce services to key US gateways, reaffirming its position as the airline of choice across the Atlantic. 

Flights to Seattle and Washington DC will take off next week, with services to New York, San Francisco and Atlanta also increasing. In April, a third daily service to Los Angeles will commence, serving the Californian city more than any other airline.  Virgin Atlantic will operate Orlando flights from its four UK gateways of Heathrow, Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast, resulting in more flights from the UK to the theme park capital of the world than any other carrier. 

Seattle flights will depart five times weekly from London Heathrow on the 2^nd March.  As home to Microsoft, Amazon and Boeing, Seattle’s one of the fastest growing cities in the US and a mecca for entrepreneurs and innovators.  The airline operate its 787-9, with its famous on-board bar and top of the range in-flight entertainment.

From 5^th March, London Heathrow to Washington DC services will operate five times a week on an Airbus A330, providing vital connectivity between the two nations’ capital cities and re-establishing links for both business and leisure travellers alike.  Last month, Virgin Atlantic announced its first new US route since 2015, to Austin, Texas which will operate four times weekly from 25 May. 

Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Atlantic, commented,

“Following the relaxation of travel restrictions, we’ve seen demand increase to many of our global destinations, but particularly to our heartland in the USA. Our customers can’t wait to return.

“The restart of our Seattle and Washington DC services mark an important milestone, as we move into recovery and welcome our customers back on board to all the destinations they’ve missed.  We’re simply not Virgin without the Atlantic and our growing transatlantic portfolio demonstrates why we’re the airline of choice to the USA.”

Enhanced flexible booking policy on all new bookings  

To help customers book with confidence, Virgin Atlantic has extended its policy of unlimited free date and flight changes for new bookings, giving further flexibility to customers to support future travel plans. The updated flexible booking policy enables Virgin Atlantic customers making a new holiday or flight-only booking for travel up to 31 December 2022, to make as many changes as necessary to their travel dates, origin or destination, with the change fees waived**, as well as one free name change.   

In addition, the rebooking horizon, the date by which rescheduled travel can be completed by, has been extended by eight months for all new and existing bookings – all the way until 31 December 2023 – giving a broader window of time to reschedule plans if needed.  

The improved flexible policy also applies to customers who already have converted their booking to a voucher or hold an open ticket and will benefit customers if their flight or holiday is subject to cancellation, in addition to their refund and voucher options.