Virgin Atlantic to add two new routes, along with some fifth-freedoms

It seems that Virgin Atlantic is thinking ahead, with the airline planning two new route launches, as well as a bunch of fifth-freedom flights.

London – Dubai

Virgin Atlantic will launch a four-times-a-week service to Dubai, operating seasonally from October through to March to capitalise on the sunny winter breaks demands of travellers, as it targets the premium traveller on the route pair.

Flights commence on the 28th of October 2023 as VS400/401, utilising a three-class Boeing 787-9 with 31 Upper Class, 35 Premium, and 192 Economy seats.

It will offer seamless connections and a consistent long-haul onboard experience for those customers connecting from Dubai via London Heathrow to destinations throughout North America across both the Virgin Atlantic and Delta networks, as well as 20 tonnes of cargo space.

Lead-in prices start at  £505 return, with tickets bookable from the 7th of June.

Manchester – Las Vegas

Moving on, from Life in a Northern Town to a place where you can lose wages, Virgin Atlantic is to launch a service from Manchester Airport to Las Vegas.

Services will commence in Summer 2024 on the 4th June, and are set to provide passengers in the North West and beyond a wider offering of leisure flights, which also include Orlando and Barbados.

The new Manchester service will operate on one of Virgin Atlantic’s newest aircraft, the Airbus A350-1000 aircraft with 16 Upper Class, 56 Premium, and 325 Economy seats.

Fares start from £770 per person in Economy.

Fifth Freedoms in the Caribbean

Virgin Atlantic is also launching inter-island flying in the Caribbean, making a wider variety of luxurious destinations even more accessible.

From 14 June, Virgin Atlantic will be the only UK airline allowing travellers to easily hop from Barbados to Grenada or St Vincent and the Grenadines, allowing even more customers to experience multi-island holidays in a tropical paradise by flying in Virgin Atlantic style.

The new inter-island services are set to provide both international and local customers more opportunities to explore the Caribbean and each island’s unique personality. The airline has confirmed the following frequencies for the next two seasons:

Summer 2023

Winter 2023 

In Quotes

Rikke Christensen, Vice President of Network & Alliances at Virgin Atlantic, commented:

“I’m thrilled to be returning to Dubai – a destination we know our customers and people love.  Its inviting climate during the cold UK winter, combined with its first-class collection of hotels and experiences make Dubai a must visit destination for sunshine hungry Brits”. 

“We’ve long wanted to return to this incredible city when the time was right, and this year presents the perfect opportunity.  Dubai will complement our growing collection of winter sun destinations, bolstered by The Maldives and Turks and Caicos later this year alongside our new services between Manchester and Las Vegas in Summer 2024 and the soon to commence inter-Caribbean flights. I’m looking forward to welcoming our customers back to this vibrant, exciting destination once more.”

Interesting, but not a challenge

Four flights a week to Dubai… I’m going to be blunt – is not a challenge, with 1,032 seats a week.

For comparison Emirates operated five daily flights, with a seat count of 2,420 seats for a single day – or 16,940 seats a week.

Even British Airways offers three flights a day, with two Boeing 787s and a Boeing 777 – handily beating whatever numbers Virgin Atlantic brings.

For a business traveller – that could be less than ideal.

Clearly, Virgin Atlantic will be appealing to the leisure traveller, rather than going toe-to-toe with the big guns on the route – a strategy it’s using for its Manchester and Caribbean routes.

Virgin does have some advantages – being able to sell via their Virgin Holidays subsidiary and drive traffic that way – which is how I suspect a lot of these seats may be filled.

We’ll see how long these seasonal routes stick around, and see if they’re viable in the longer term.

Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond. Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, in-depth coverage, unique research, as well as the humour and madness I only know how to deliver.

Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates, as well as Mastodon too! You can follow me on Instagram too!

Also, remember that we are part of the BoardingArea community, bringing you the latest frequent flyer news from around the world.