Virgin Atlantic to suspend London-Dubai Route

In the tough market that is London to Dubai, carriers have been dropping like flies recently – be it for low season reasons, or switching to direct operations. Virgin Atlantic is joining that list with the airline planning to suspend its operation from 31st March 2019 

Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner landing at Heathrow Airport – Image, Economy Class and Beyond

The problem is that the route doesn’t seem economically viable. In the release the airline has issued

After conducting a thorough review of its network, the airline has made the difficult decision to stop flying between Dubai and London due to a combination of external factors which mean it is no longer economically viable.

Shai Weiss, Chief Commercial Officer for Virgin Atlantic, states:

“It‘s never an easy decision to withdraw a route, and we’d like to thank our customers and dedicated team in Dubai for their loyalty over the last 12 years. We’ll continue to offer daily flights between Dubai and London Heathrow until 31 March 2019, and will be sad to say goodbye to this fantastic city.”

Recently, the market has shrunk between London Heathrow to Dubai with various operators changing their operations:

• Qantas (Switched to via Singapore and Perth to London direct)
• Royal Brunei (switching to a direct service in October)

This will leave British Airways and Emirates to contest the route, with the Dubai based carrier offering 10 flights a day from the London Region to Dubai who operate a service three times a day.

If you have bookings beyond the 31st March 2019 (and the maybe a few of you that have), check with Virgin Atlantic for your options.

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