Virgin Atlantic increases services on some key routes

Virgin Atlantic Airways is to increase its services on some key routes throughout the winter season and will also add some additional services starting in summer 2003.

Steve Ridgway, Chief Executive of the airline said:

"The airline is expanding and growing again and this is reflected in the increases to our services over the winter and next summer. We are particularly excited about our morning New York service. If you need to make a quick one day trip you can now get to JFK by 1210, so the extra afternoon and a full evening in New York makes your trip almost twice as productive." 

NORTH AMERICA

From 28 October Virgin Atlantic will operate a prime morning service departing Heathrow at 0930, arriving into JFK at 1210. The airline currently offers two JFK services from Heathrow departing at 1400 and 1830. There will be a choice of three competitively timed evening departures from JFK at 19.30, 21.10 and 23.10.

Virgin Atlantic is also increasing its services between Newark and Heathrow to double daily. The airline currently operates one daily service and one five day a week service, which will rise to six per week from the start of next year, and daily from Summer 2003. These increases will take the airline's number of daily flights to New York to five. 

Virgin will also be doubling its popular route between Heathrow and Washington from one flight a day to two services a day from 21 June 2003. 

From May 2003, Virgin Atlantic will be adding five services a week from Gatwick to Boston for the summer season only (subject to Government approval), these services are in addition to the daily flights offered between Heathrow and Boston.

AFRICA

From 19 October Virgin Atlantic will resume its seasonal direct services between Heathrow and Cape Town. The evening flights will depart Heathrow on Tuesdays and Saturdays, arriving in Cape Town on Wednesdays and Sundays. Initially the airline will offer two services a week through to May 2003. These will rise to five per week over December and early January. 

In addition to the above, from May 2003, Virgin Atlantic's increasingly popular service between Heathrow and Lagos will rise from six flights a week to a daily service subject to Government approval.

CARIBBEAN

Virgin Atlantic also recently announced its plans to launch a direct weekly service between London Gatwick and Tobago and Grenada from May 2003 and is also planning to launch a weekly Sunday service between Manchester and Barbados from Winter 2003. The airline will also expand its existing services between Gatwick and Barbados, St Lucia and Antigua. By Winter 2003, Caribbean services will have increased to 16 per week.

These additional new routes will bring the number of Virgin Atlantic destinations to twenty-one worldwide.