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Virgin Airlines has been living on the edge ever since the current crisis first hit the headlines as, unlike a lot of its competitors, it found itself unable to access the aid on offer from its home government. In its fight for survival, we have seen the airline cut over 35% of its workforce and abandon one of its hub airports and we have seen multiple pleas for help from the UK government go unanswered…but the airline keeps soldiering on.
Sir Richard Branson has used funds from the sale of Virgin Galactic stock to prop up his airline and, although Virgin Atlantic’s future remains far from secure, the airline is now set to return to the skies as a leaner more efficient carrier from July.
In a recent schedule update, Virgin Atlantic has scheduled operations to 23 destinations with some routes set to restart on 20 July and with others not seeing service until later this year. Here are the planned routes:
London Heathrow – Caribbean
Antigua
1x/week Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner service is scheduled to start from 1 October 2020.
Bridgetown
1x/week Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner service is scheduled to start from 1 August 2020 and frequencies are set to increase to 3x/week from 1 October 2020.
Grenada
2x/week A330-300 service via Antigua is scheduled to start from 2 October 2020.
Havana
2x/week A330-300 service via Antigua is scheduled to start from 1 September 2020.
Montego Bay
2x/week 787-9 service is scheduled to start from 2 October 2020.
Tobago
1x/week A330-300 service via Antigua is scheduled to start from 4 October 2020.
London Heathrow – USA
Atlanta
3x/week Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner service is scheduled to start from 25 August 2020 and the service is set to go daily with an Airbus A330-300 from 1 September 2020.
Boston
A daily A330-300 service is scheduled to start from 1 October 2020.
Las Vegas
A daily 787-9 Dreamliner service is scheduled to start from 1 September 2020
Los Angeles
A 3x/week service is scheduled to start from 21 July 2020 with a mix of 787-9 and A350-1000 aircraft. The service is set to go daily from 1 August 2020 (again with a mix of aircraft) and the A350-1000 is now not set to operate all the flights on this route until 22 September.
Miami
3x/week Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner service is scheduled to start from 18 August 2020 with the service set to go daily with an A330-300 from 1 September 2020.
New York
This route is set to restart from 21 July 2020 with a 3x/week service operated by an Airbus A350-1000 and the route is set to go daily from 1 August 2020.
Orlando
From 20 July 2020, the Heathrow – Orlando route will be served twice daily by Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
San Francisco
3x/week Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner service is scheduled to start to San Francisco from 4 August 2020 with the service set to go daily from 1 September 2020.
Seattle
A daily 787-9 Dreamliner service is scheduled to start to Seattle from 1 September 2020
Washington DC
A daily A330-300 service is scheduled to start to DC from 1 September 2020
London Heathrow – Asia
Delhi
A daily A330-300 service is scheduled to start from 1 September 2020.
Hong Kong
3x/week Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner service is scheduled to start from 20 July 2020 and the service is set to go daily from 31 August 2020.
Mumbai
This route will restart from 1 September 2020 with a Boeing 787-9 offering a daily service.
Shanghai
This route will restart from 4 August 2020 with a Boeing 787-9 offering a 1x/week service which will ramp up to a daily service from 1 September 2020.
London Heathrow – Africa/Middle East
Johannesburg
A daily 787-9 Dreamliner service is scheduled to start from 14 September 2020 but this is set to drop to a 5x/week service between 1 and 15 October 2020.
Lagos
3x/week A350-1000 service is scheduled to start from 23 August 2020 and the service is set to go daily from 29 August 2020.
Tel Aviv
The Heathrow – Tel Aviv route will be resurrected from 9 August 2020 with a 787-9 aircraft operating 3x/week, From 1 September 2020, a daily service will be offered.
Manchester (UK) – USA
Orlando
Orlando is the only destination to which Virgin Atlantic is scheduled to offer service from an airport other than London Heathrow. From 2 August 2020, a 4x/week service will be offered using a 787-9 and a 3x/week service will be offered by an A330-300. From 1 September all 7 weekly flights will be operated by an Airbus A330-300.
Bottom Line
It’s a little strange and a little sad to see a Virgin Atlantic schedule devoid of Boeing 747 aircraft but, as Virgin confirmed a few weeks ago, those aircraft are no longer in the airline’s plans and are unlikely to take to the skies in Virgin Atlantic livery ever again. Still, it’s good to see Virgin Atlantic reappearing in the schedules again and it’s no surprise to see that Orlando is the destination the airline will be serving with most flights as soon as it can….now I just have to wait for a good Business Class deal to Los Angeles so I can finally try out the airline’s new A350-1000.
Will you be booking any of the routes Virgin Atlantic is scheduled to operate or are you still waiting to see how things play out?
[HT: Routes Online for the updated information]
[…] that the airline will only be able to operate a maximum of five US destinations through October (in June it was expecting to have 10 US routes up and running by the beginning of September) and with virus spikes in the Caribbean not helping the airline’s plans to back up in the […]