NEWS SPECIAL REPORT
US special report: Virgin Atlantic has ramped up its services to the US, and there are more to come. Emma Jones, vice-president of sales at Virgin Atlantic, sponsor of this US special edition, spoke to Ian Taylor
Emma Jones: ‘Manchester is a huge opportunity’
Virgin focuses on MAN flights
Virgin Atlantic began flying to the US 34 years ago last month when its inaugural flight from Gatwick took off for Newark, New Jersey.
The carrier remains focused
on services to the US – as well as to the Caribbean – through its joint venture (JV) with Delta Air Lines – and it still flies to Newark from Heathrow. Virgin also operates from Heathrow to New York JFK, of course, as well as to Boston, Washington, Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Las Vegas, Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It flies from Gatwick to Orlando and Las Vegas; from Manchester to New York, Boston, Orlando and San Francisco; and it operates summer services from Glasgow and Belfast to Orlando. As if that was not enough,
Virgin’s JV partner Delta operates from Heathrow to Portland, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis-St Paul, Detroit, Boston and Atlanta, as well as to New York JFK – to which the carriers jointly provide a daily shuttle service. Virgin added a sixth daily
“It will be the biggest programme we’ve ever flown from Manchester – we’re adding 14,000 seats”
service between Heathrow and New York JFK this year and extended its seasonal Belfast- Orlando service to 28 weeks this summer – trebling the number of flights. However, Manchester is the focus of expansion for next year. Emma Jones, Virgin Atlantic
vice-president of sales, said: “We’re looking to increase our flights from Manchester by 20% from March 2019. It will be the biggest programme we’ve ever flown from Manchester, with a new route to Los Angeles and increased services to Boston and Las Vegas adding 14,000 seats.” The Los Angeles service will
operate three times a week from May. Flights to Las Vegas will double from two to four a week from the end of March. Virgin’s Boston service will increase to
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travelweekly.co.uk 5 July 2018
three a week from May and its daily services to New York and Atlanta will switch to using a Boeing 747, increasing the number of seats on each flight to 455. Jones said: “We will have up
to six flights a day to the US from Manchester. We see it as a huge opportunity. There is huge leisure traffic, but Manchester is also an opportunity for us in the SME [small and medium-enterprise business travel] space, to Boston in particular.” There are differences between
the Heathrow and Manchester markets. Jones said: “Manchester is predominantly a UK point-of-sale market. There is a lot of connecting traffic through Heathrow – and convention traffic to Las Vegas.” Virgin takes connecting
traffic from regional airports at Manchester through codeshare partner Flybe – including from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Belfast, Exeter and Southampton. It also takes connecting passengers from Edinburgh and Aberdeen at Heathrow thanks to daily multiple Flybe services launched last year.
Jones said: “We work closely
with Flybe in the regions where they are our primary partner. “Delta supports our connections
at the other end. We see a lot of passengers from Manchester and Heathrow going to Atlanta and on to Florida, or to Boston and on to other destinations. About 10% of customers travelling with us to the US connect on to Delta flights.” Virgin and Delta are both located
at Heathrow’s Terminal 3 to make life easy for customers and allow those with flexible tickets to switch flights comfortably. Jones added: “One of the many
advantages of working with Delta is being able to integrate our technology.” The transatlantic JV will
be extended to a three-way partnership with Air France-KLM next year, when Air France-KLM will also take a 31% stake in Virgin Atlantic. Jones said: “We’re still working through the agreements and [obtaining] regulatory approval. But it will be an advantage in terms of offering more options to customers.”
Virgin’s Upper Class cabins, with lie-flat beds (right)
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