Virgin Atlantic launches flights from London to Bengaluru

MUMBAI: UK-based airline Virgin Atlantic launched a new daily service from London to Bengaluru on April 1. The airline said it will also launch a second daily direct service from London Heathrow to Mumbai from Oct this year.

The new flight to Mumbai will be the airline’s fifth daily service to India. From 2025, Virgin Atlantic will offer over one million seats to the country, a 350% capacity growth since 2019. This will cement India’s position as a key strategic market for the airline and marking its largest area of growth outside the United States, it said. “Alongside customer flying, the increase is also a huge boost for cargo operations with additional capacity to support the movement of goods from the fashion, pharmaceuticals, 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,” said the airline.

The new services will operate on the airline’s state of the art aircraft, 787-9 Dreamliner offering customers the option of Upper Class, Premium, and Economy Delight, Classic and Light as well as the airline’s signature Upper Class social space. It will also offer seamless connectivity and a premium long-haul experience for those customers connecting via London Heathrow to and from destinations throughout North America including Seattle, San Francisco, and New York JFK, with Virgin Atlantic and transatlantic joint venture partner, Delta Air Lines.

In addition to offering direct services to Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, Virgin Atlantic has a strategic partnership with IndiGo, India’s largest airline. Customers can book one ticket which allows them to connect seamlessly from other destinations in India such as Ahmedabad, Goa and Hyderabad onto London Heathrow. In total the partnership offers 36 additional destinations and has so far connected over 80,000 customers since the launch in September 2022.

Virgin Atlantic will also quadruple the number of Indian based cabin crew this summer. Through GSA partner InterGlobe Air Transport, the airline will now average four Indian cabin crew on each flight in order to deliver a more personalised service to our Indian customers, it said.

Shai Weiss, CEO, Virgin Atlantic commented, “I am thrilled to be here in Bengaluru, celebrating not one but two new Virgin Atlantic services. There is a huge opportunity for us in India, it has a dynamic, fast-growing economy and we’re anticipating huge growth in demand for international travel from the region. We know both our customers and people love travelling here and we have a rich history in India. Next year marks 25 years of operations and with our new daily service to Bengaluru and second daily service to Mumbai, it will be the first time that we’ll offer more than one million seats from London Heathrow. These new flights reaffirm our commitment to the country, allowing our customers to travel seamlessly throughout India and beyond, flying on one of the youngest fleets in the skies, with our signature service, delivered by our amazing people.”
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