Virgin Atlantic seems to be pushing hard into the Indian market, with the airline planning to double its flights to Mumbai.
The new flight is the airline’s fifth daily service to India and complements its double daily services to Delhi and recently launched flights to Bengaluru.
It will commence on the 27 October 2024, with tickets on sale from Wednesday 10th April. The planned operation is below:
VS358 DEPART LHR 11:15 ARRIVE BOM 01:55+1 VS359 DPEART BOM 04:10 ARRIVE LHR 08:55 Commences 27th October 2024 from LHR, 28th October from BOM Subject to Goverment Approval Operates Daily Booked Equipment: Virgin Atlantic A350-1000 leisure
Virgin Altnaitc will use an Airbus A350-1000 in its leisure configuration on this route, offering Upper Class, Premium and Economy Delight, Classic and Light as well as the airline’s signature Upper Class social space.
The new flight will offer connectivity and a premium long-haul experience for those customers connecting via London Heathrow from destinations throughout North America including Seattle, San Francisco and New York JFK, with Virgin Atlantic and transatlantic joint venture partner, Delta Air Lines.
To support the growth, Virgin Atlantic will quadruple the number of Indian-based cabin crew operating on our India routes this summer, the airline will now average four Indian cabin crew on each flight to deliver a more personalised service to Indian customers.
For those who need to go beyond Mumbai, Bangalore and Dehli, Virgin Atlantic codeshares with IndiGo to provide access to 36 other destinations on one ticket.
In Quotes
Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer, Virgin Atlantic, commented:
“There is a huge opportunity for us in India, it has a dynamic, fast-growing economy and we’re anticipating a huge growth in demand for international travel from the region. We know both our customers and people love travelling to India and we have a rich history in the destination.
Next year marks 25 years of operations and the first time that we’ll offer more than one million seats from London Heathrow. The doubling of our Mumbai services reaffirms our strong commitment and will allow our customers to travel seamlessly throughout India and beyond, flying on one of the youngest fleets in the skies, with our signature personalised service, delivered by our amazing people.”
Growing in India
From 2025, Virgin Atlantic will offer over one million seats to the country, a 350% capacity growth since 2019. It’s an important market for the airline, with it being the largest growth outside the United States.
Alongside options for customers, the increase in flying is also a huge boost for cargo operations with additional capacity to support the movement of goods from the fashion, pharmaceutical and tech sectors. With five daily services, Virgin Atlantic Cargo will offer over 40 million kg of space to and from India, a 336% increase in capacity versus 2019.
Delivering a consistent passenger experience, as well as services will be key for the airline to maintain growth as it seems to grow the market to India.
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