Virgin Atlantic has announced that it is increasing the number of flights to the Caribbean by nearly 300% ‘after a surge in demand’ after the UK Government’s latest announcement, which saw Antigua, Barbados and Grenada enter the ‘Green List’. The announcement, which means that travellers will not need to quarantine on arrival in the United Kingdom, comes as the airline reported a significant spike in bookings to its sunny island destinations.
Flights up nearly 300%
Virgin Atlantic has preponed the resumption of flights that were scheduled to take-off in August. These flights will now re-commence this month itself.
As of 15th July 2021, flights to Antigua will increase to 3-times-a-week. Service to Barbados will increase to 4-weekly from 15th July 2021 and to daily from 25th July 2021. The airline is also making its return to Grenada, with twice-weekly flights resuming from 16th July 2021.
Additionally, the airline will also return to Manchester Airport, ‘the airline’s home in the north’, with 3-weekly flights to Barbados using Boeing B787 starting 7th August 2021.
Furthermore, Virgin Atlantic will deploy its flagship and ‘iconic’ Airbus A350 aircraft on 5 flights of the seven-weekly flights to Barbados, featuring 44 Upper Class Suites (the airline’s version of Business Class), 56 Premium Economy seats and 235 standard economy class seats that include 38 Economy Delight seats featuring 3 inches of additional legroom.
Virgin Atlantic’s other Caribbean services will operate on the airline’s Boeing B787 Dreamliners.
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Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer, Virgin Atlantic, said:
There’s long been pent up demand to travel so we’re excited that we can finally whisk our customers away for a much-needed sunny break, with even more available flight options, allowing them to enjoy the stunning beaches, warm climate and welcoming hospitality that the Caribbean has buckets of. We’re also returning to Manchester as demand increases from our customers to travel to Barbados this summer. We’re pleased to be returning to our home in north and expect to announce the restart of many more Manchester services soon.
Virgin Atlantic offers unlimited free date and flight changes for new bookings as part of a series of enhancements to give further flexibility to passengers and support their future travel plans. Alongside the improved changes policy, the rebooking horizon has been extended for all passengers all the way until 30th April 2023, giving a broader window of time to reschedule plans if needed.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, Virgin Atlantic announced the return to its ‘home turf’ in Terminal 3 at London’s Heathrow Airport. The airline has also joined hands with British Airways and London Heathrow Airport to launch vaccination status trials.
Featured image by Virgin Atlantic
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