Virgin halts Gatwick to Toronto route

Virgin halts Gatwick to Toronto route

Virgin Atlantic has suspended its fledgling Gatwick to Toronto route in the wake of the terrorist attacks.

The route, which was launched in June this year, was one of the first in Virgin’s portfolio to be cut, along with the Heathrow to Chicago route, also introduced last year. Virgin said it hoped to be able to resume both routes eventually.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesman said: “It depends on consumer confidence, but the drop in demand has been such that we had to rationalise our business. New routes cost so much to launch they have to perform very well early on to succeed – Toronto had not yet had the chance to establish itself.”

Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership president Eugene Zakreski confirmed the marketing body was in talks with Virgin to monitor the chances of reintroducing the route.

“There has been dialogue between us and Virgin but we do understand they have specific revenue objectives. Airlines are driven by the bottom line,”he said.

&#42 Virgin Holidays has yet to decide whether to axe its Toronto and Eastern Canada programme. A Virgin Holidays spokeswoman said: “The priority is to get things back upand running before we make a decision.”