Virgin Atlantic is to tweak its operations between London Heathrow and Newark International Airport, with airline tweaking its operations during from the winter.
The airline will swap out the existing Airbus A340-600 for Airbus A330-300s, converting the entire service between the service to the twin engined wide-body jet.
Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330-300 at London Heathrow – Image GhettoIFE
The change goes in effect on 7th December 2014, with the VS17/VS18 changing to A330 operation.
London Heathrow to Newark International Airport
VS001 DEPART LHR 09:35 ARRIVE EWR 12:40 VS017 DEPART LHR 20:10 ARRIVE EWR 23:15 Booked equipment from 7th December 2014: Three Class Airbus A330-300
Newark International Airport to London Heathrow
VS018 DEPART EWR 07:30 ARRIVE LHR 19:40 VS002 DEPART EWR 19:40 ARRIVE LHR 07:35+1 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday) VS002 Departs Newark 5 minutes earlier and arrives 10 minutes earlier on Tuesdays VS002 Departs Newark at 21:05, arriving 09:00+1 on Thursdays Booked equipment from 7th December 2014: Three Class Airbus A330-300 Data: Airline Route
The route is code-shared with Delta as part of the Virgin-Delta transatlantic agreement.
Virgin Atlantic configure their A330-300s in three class configuration on this route, made up of:
- 33 Upper Class Suites in 1-2-1 configuration with direct access to the aisle.
- 48 Premium Economy Seats in 2-3-2 configuration
- 185 Economy Seats in 2-4-2 configuration
Upper class seats features all the trimmings, with AC power at seat as well as USB charging, as does Premium Economy. Economy seats only have USB power at seat. A full IFE system is offered to passengers too – along with connectivity by AeroMobile allowing the use of mobile phones for Text, email, etc.
Whilst there will be a capacity cut going down from an A340-600 to an A330-300 (12 less Upper Class, 10 more Premium Economy seats, and 48 less economy seats), it should actually offer a better experience for customers with a newer plane and more up-to-date products.
For those who wish to avoid Newark, you can always select Virgin Atlantic flights to New York-JFK, operating four times a day – or with the Delta codeshares.
