Virgin Atlantic has announced several planned changes to its service network that is due to commence in 2015.
Changes include the cancellation of four routes. From early 2015 onwards, the UK-based carrier will cease all services to Mumbai and Tokyo Narita. Meanwhile, it will also no longer operate its seasonal services to Vancouver and Cape Town.
In Asia, the final service to both Mumbai and Tokyo Narita will depart London Heathrow on January 31, with last return leg scheduled the day after.
The loss of the Mumbai and Tokyo Narita services is indicative of the increased levels of competition that Virgin has faced in the Asia-Pacific region. In May, the carrier discontinued its Sydney route (see here) due to “increasing costs and a challenging economic environment [that] have affected revenues”.
With the cancellation, Virgin’s presence in Asia will be limited to only Delhi, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Instead, the carrier is looking to strengthen its joint-venture operation with airline partner, Delta Airlines and has proposed several changes to its transatlantic services. According to airlineroute.net, this includes:
London Heathrow–Atlanta Second daily service during summer season
London Heathrow–Detroit New daily service
London Heathrow–Los Angeles Resuming its second daily service
London Heathrow–Miami Second daily service during winter season
London Heathrow–Newark Delta to operate one out of the two daily services by Virgin
London Heathrow– New York JFK New fifth daily service
London Heathrow–Atlanta Additional five weekly services during summer season
Manchester–Atlanta Single daily service; replaces existing Delta operation
Exact dates for the North American expansion has not been confirmed yet, with a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson stating that the carrier was still in a “period of consultation”. Business Traveller Asia-Pacific will update its readers accordingly as more information is revealed in the weeks to come.
For more information, visit virgin-atlantic.com
Clement Huang