Virgin Atlantic Is Adding More Seats On Select Routes To The US

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The latest schedule changes posted to the reservations systems show Virgin Atlantic taking over one of the USA – UK routes currently operated by Delta as well as adding extra seats to two US cities out of its Manchester base. if you’re looking for Premium Economy seats the news is good but, on the other hand, if you’re hoping to book Upper Class rewards I’d brace for disappointment.

Virgin Atlantic Takes Over A Delta JFK Flight

From 25 March 2018 Virgin Atlantic will operate a 6th daily flight between London Heathrow and New York JFK.

The full Virgin Atlantic summer schedule for the London – JFK route is set as follows:

VS3 LHR 09:05 – 11:40 JFK (Daily)
VS137 LHR 12:30 – 15:30 JFK (Daily)
VS153 LHR 13:20 – 16:20 JFK (Daily) **New Service**
VS45 LHR 14:00 – 16:40 JFK (Daily)
VS9 LHR 16:15 – 19:10 JFK (Daily)
VS25 LHR 20:10 – 23:05 JFK (Daily)

VS26 JFK 08:15 – 22:10 LHR (Daily)
VS4 JFK 18:10 – 06:15+1 day LHR (Daily)
VS46 JFK 19:00 – 07:20+1 day LHR (Daily)
VS138 JFK 20:30 – 08:45+1 day LHR (Daily)
VS10 JFK 21:00 – 09:15+1 day LHR (Daily)
VS154 JFK 22:15 – 10:20+1 day LHR (Daily) **New Service**

VS153/154 will primarily be operated by Airbus A330-300 aircraft but it’s entirely possible that a Dreamliner will be substituted in on certain days.

Virgin Atlantic Adds Capacity Out Of Manchester

Virgin Atlantic clearly believes that its going to carry more passengers between Manchester and the US next year as it’s planning to add capacity to Atlanta and New York JFK for the summer season.

Manchester – Atlanta

From 26 March 2018 Virgin Atlantic is swapping out its A330 aircraft for a Boeing 747 on two of its four weekly summer flights to Atlanta. The full schedule now looks like this:

VS109 MAN 11:00 – 15:05 ATL (Tue, Wed, Fri & Sun A330 Service)
VS109 MAN 11:00 – 15:05 ATL (Sat 747 Service)
VS109 MAN 12:15 – 16:20 ATL (Mon & Thu 747 Service) *previously A330 service*

VS110 ATL 19:10 – 08:20+1 day MAN (Tue, Wed, Fri & Sun A330 Service)
VS110 ATL 19:10 – 08:20+1 day MAN (Mon, Thu & Sat 747 Service)

Manchester – New York JFK

From 22 May 2018 four of the seven scheduled weekly summer flights between Manchester and New York JFK will be operated by Boeing 747 aircraft instead of Airbus A330s on the following schedule:

VS127 MAN 13:40 – 16:30 JFK (Mon, Thu & Sat A330 Service)
VS127 MAN 1350 – 16:30 JFK (Tue, Wed, Fri & Sun 747 Service)

VS128 JFK 19:30 – 07:15+1 day MAN (Tue, Wed, Fri & Sun 747 Service)
VS128 JFK 19:30 – 07:15+1 day MAN (Mon, Thu & Sat A330 Service)

To give you an idea how many more seats will be available on each flight (and how many seats each cabin will now have) here’s a comparison between Virgin’s  Airbus A330 and its Boeing 747 aircraft.

The biggest losers here will be customers looking to book Upper Class (Business Class) seats as they’re going to be a lot harder to find…especially if you’re hoping to book a reward flight.

On a positive note however, there’s going to be a significant increase in the number of Premium Economy seats available and, as Premium Economy redemptions are a sweet spot of the recently reconfigured Virgin Atlantic rewards chart, that’s very good news.

[HT: Routes Online]