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Virgin Atlantic has unveiled its latest long-haul route, including a connection between London Heathrow and Toronto Pearson. Introduced only a few days in the past, the schedule for this flight is now formally obtainable and tickets are open for reserving.
New Each day Service from London to Toronto
Beginning March 30, 2025, Virgin Atlantic will start each day flights between London Heathrow (LHR) and Toronto Pearson (YYZ). The airline will make the most of a mixture of Airbus A330-900neo and Airbus A330-300 plane for this route. The flight schedule is as follows:
- VS147 London to Toronto: Departing 5:10 PM, arriving 8:30 PM
- VS148 Toronto to London: Departing 10:20 PM, arriving 10:30 AM (+1 day)
This 3,556-mile journey is scheduled for 8 hours and 20 minutes westbound and seven hours and 10 minutes eastbound. Flights ought to turn into bookable shortly, with award seats obtainable, due to Virgin Atlantic’s award seat assure, making it simple to ebook with Flying Membership factors.
Virgin Atlantic Returns to Canada
This marks Virgin Atlantic’s return to Canada for the primary time in over a decade, having final flown to Vancouver in 2014. The Toronto service is technically a route resumption, as Virgin Atlantic operated this route briefly in 2001 earlier than it was lower following the occasions of 9/11.
The brand new route goals to attach two international monetary hubs whereas offering optimum connectivity to Virgin Atlantic’s community in India, together with flights to Delhi, Mumbai, and the newly launched service to Bengaluru.
Expanded Codeshare Partnership with WestJet
Moreover, Virgin Atlantic is about to develop its codeshare partnership with WestJet beginning in October 2024. This partnership will allow Canadian clients to entry numerous regional locations, together with Ottawa and Winnipeg. Frequent flyer reciprocity can be anticipated in 2025, permitting Flying Membership members to redeem factors on WestJet flights.
Strategic Concerns
For a London-based airline, the selection of Toronto as a brand new vacation spot is logical. Nevertheless, Virgin Atlantic faces a number of strategic challenges:
- The airline has restricted development aspirations because of its unique long-haul fleet and restricted plane orders.
- Virgin Atlantic is 49% owned by Delta, focusing totally on its transatlantic three way partnership with Delta and Air France-KLM.
- Exterior the North Atlantic and India, Virgin Atlantic has struggled with its route technique, together with canceled plans to fly to Sao Paulo and restricted growth in North and Southeast Asia.
Regardless of these challenges, there may be vital demand between Toronto and London, in addition to between Toronto and India, which bodes nicely for the brand new route. Nevertheless, competitors is fierce, with Air Canada dominating Toronto and British Airways sustaining a powerful presence.
Future Prospects
Whereas the partnership with WestJet presents extra connectivity, a lot of WestJet’s Toronto community focuses on leisure locations, which can not considerably profit this route. Virgin Atlantic has a historical past of launching after which canceling flights, so the success of this new service stays to be seen.
Conclusion
Beginning within the spring of 2025, Virgin Atlantic will provide a brand new each day flight between London and Toronto. This flight marks Virgin Atlantic’s first return to Canada in over a decade. Whereas the route won’t have been probably the most anticipated alternative, it leverages each native site visitors and connections to India, suggesting it has the potential to carry out nicely.
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