Virgin Atlantic has continued its recent route growth spurt with the announcement of new routes to Bengaluru and Sao Paulo.
I say new – in the case of Sao Paulo the carrier had originally announced plans to serve the Brazilian city in 2019, but the launch was first delayed by the onset of Covid-19 and then abandoned altogether.
The Heathrow-Sao Paulo route is now back in the schedules for next year though, with daily flights going on sale in August, and launching in May 2024.
Virgin said that its partner LATAM would offer onward connections to 12 domestic airports within Brazil.
Ahead of this the airline will also launch a daily service from Heathrow to Bengaluru in March 2024, with tickets going on sale later this month.
The new route will join Virgin’s existing flights to Delhi and Mumbai. The carrier had been due to launch routes from Manchester to both of these cities in 2021, but these plans were dropped shortly after being announced.
The Heathrow-Sao Paulo route is served by both British Airways and LATAM, while Heathrow-Bengaluru is served by British Airways.
The new routes follows last week’s announcement of a return to Dubai, as well as flights from Manchester to Las Vegas, and new inter-island flights in the Caribbean.
Virgin said that with the additional services it would offer 250,000 additional roundtrip seats across its network compared to 2019.
Commenting on the news Shai Weiss, CEO, Virgin Atlantic, said:
“We’re excited to announce a range of new routes across three continents, giving our customers the opportunity to fly in style with Virgin Atlantic. From our entrance into South America, to our expansion in India and the growth of our premium sun portfolio, there is something for all of our customers to experience.
“By leveraging the power of our strategic partners, and welcoming our state of the art, brand new A350 and A339 aircraft, customers can rely on Virgin Atlantic to connect them to where they need to be, enjoying a premium customer experience, delivered by our amazing crew. Our plan is working, positioning us to return to profitability in 2024.”
