Virgin Atlantic is Adding Two New Destinations and Several Fifth-Freedom Routes

by Anthony Losanno
Virgin Atlantic

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SkyTeam airline, Virgin Atlantic, announced several new routes today. These include new service from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Dubai International Airport (DXB), Manchester Airport (MAN) to Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), as well as several fifth-freedom routes between Caribbean islands.

Virgin Atlantic SkyTeam

London to Dubai

Virgin Atlantic will launch flights to Dubai four times a week between October and March. Flights between these two cities are currently served by Emirates and British Airways. It appears Virgin Atlantic is looking to hit leisure travelers here. Flights VS400 and VS401will be flown on a Boeing 787-9 that offers 31 Upper Class, 35 Premium, and 192 Economy seats.

Manchester to Las Vegas

Another leisure route that will launch in October connects Manchester with Sin City (Las Vegas). The service will not launch until June 2024 and will be flown on an Airbus A350-1000 with 16 Upper Class, 56 Premium, and 325 Economy seats.

Barbados

Caribbean Fifth-Freedom Routes

I’m most excited about these flights. Starting June 14th, Virgin Atlantic will fly passengers between the Caribbean islands of Barbados, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. These flights will operate as follows this summer:

  • Barbados’ Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI) to St. Vincent’s Argyle International Airport (SVD) (flight VS197) on Wednesdays and Sundays
  • St. Vincent’s Argyle International Airport (SVD) to Barbados’ Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI) (flight VS198) on Wednesdays and Sundays
  • Barbados’ Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI) to Grenada’s Maurice Bishop International Airport (GND) (flight VS187) on Tuesdays and Saturdays
  • Grenada’s Maurice Bishop International Airport (GND) to Barbados’ Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI) (flight VS188) on Tuesdays and Saturdays

For the upcoming winter, the flights between Barbados and St. Vincent will increase frequency to 3x weekly with the addition of Monday flights.

Rick Christensen, Vice President of Network & Alliances at Virgin Atlantic, said:

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.”

Anthony’s Take: It’s always exciting to see new routes. Virgin Atlantic is generous with award seats and these new flights (especially in the Caribbean) offer some exciting routes. I can imagine island hopping on these flights.

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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.

1 comment

Jermine Nti June 2, 2023 - 7:27 pm

Couldn’t be more excited to see Virgin atlantic flying to St Vincent. Having my parents visiting in June and couldn’t be more at peace knowing they will be looked after by the best Airline.

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