Virgin Atlantic has announced the next phase of its resumption of flights, with 17 additional destinations returning to the network.
Earlier this month the carrier announced plans to resume passenger flights from July 20, with selected services to the US, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
And now Virgin has confirmed restart dates for routes from Heathrow to San Francisco (August 4), Tel Aviv (August 9), Miami (August 18), Lagos (August 23), and Atlanta (August 25).
Further ahead the carrier also plans to resume flights to Washington, Seattle, Las Vegas, Mumbai, Delhi and Johannesburg in September, followed by Boston, Montego Bay, Antigua, Grenada and Tobago (via Antigua) in October.
Virgin will also relaunch flights from Manchester to Barbados in October. But the planned resumption of flights from Heathrow to Orlando on July 20 has been pushed back to August 24, and seasonal services from Glasgow and Belfast to Orlando are not planned until summer 2021.
A full list of all planned resumptions so far announced can be seen below. With Heathrow Terminal 3 currently closed, the carrier will operate flights from Terminal 2.
Health and safety measures will include a personal Health Pack being provided for passengers, containing “medical grade face masks as a requirement to be worn onboard, surface wipes and hand gel”.
In line with other carriers including Virgin’s partner Delta, electrostatic spraying of disinfectant will be carried out in all cabin aircraft and toilets.
Virgin also said that “In the short term, we will be offering a simplified hot food service onboard to minimise contact, enclosed from preparation in a Covid-safe, monitored environment directly to our customers’ seats”.
Commenting on the news Juha Jarvinen, chief commercial officer, Virgin Atlantic, said:
“As countries around the world begin to relax travel restrictions, we look forward to welcoming our customers back onboard and flying them safely to many destinations across our network. From July 20 we are planning to resume some services and then from August 1 onwards, we will resume passenger flying to 17 additional destinations around the world including Tel Aviv, Miami, Lagos and San Francisco.
“However, we are monitoring external conditions extremely closely, in particular the travel restrictions many countries have in place including the 14 day quarantine policy for travellers entering the UK. We know that as the Covid-19 crisis subsides, air travel will be a vital enabler of the UK’s economic recovery.
“Therefore, we are calling for UK Government to continually review its quarantine measures and instead look at a multi-layered approach of carefully targeted public health and screening measures, including air bridges, which will support a successful and safe restart of international air travel for passengers and businesses.”
Virgin Atlantic's planned dates for resumption of flying from Heathrow and Manchester
- July 20, 2020 London Heathrow to Hong Kong
- July 21, 2020 London Heathrow to New York JFK, Los Angeles
- August 1, 2020 London Heathrow to Barbados
- August 4, 2020 London Heathrow to Shanghai and San Francisco
- August 9, 2020 London Heathrow to Tel Aviv
- August 18, 2020 London Heathrow to Miami
- August 23, 2020 London Heathrow to Lagos
- August 24, 2020 London Heathrow and Manchester to Orlando (subject to CDC approval)
- August 25, 2020 London Heathrow to Atlanta
- September 2020 London Heathrow to Washington, Seattle, Las Vegas, Mumbai, Delhi and Johannesburg
- October 2020 London Heathrow to Boston, Montego Bay, Antigua, Grenada and Tobago (via Antigua)
- October 2020 Manchester to Barbados
