Virgin Atlantic is adding 40,000 extra seats on transatlantic routes from from Manchester airport next summer as part of an expanded UK flying programme with partner Delta Air Lines.
Virgin Atlantic and Delta will also optimise their schedule between New York-JFK and Heathrow to offer eight daily frequencies from March 25, 2018. Virgin Atlantic will operate six daily services and Delta two.
Flights to both New York JFK and Atlanta from Manchester are being upgraded and will be operated by both Airbus A330s and 455-passenger Boeing 747s.
The airline will offer more than 350,000 direct seats between Manchester and US airports.
Delta is introducing Airbus A330s on its New York-JFK, Atlanta and Detroit routes to Heathrow, increasing capacity on the routes.
The airlines’ joint summer 2018 schedule includes a total of 37 peak daily non-stop flights between the US and the UK.
Of these, 26 flights will operate between Heathrow and US destinations such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta and Washington and 11 flights will operate between Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast, Gatwick and Edinburgh to the US.
Virgin Atlantic chief commercial officer, Shai Weiss, said: “Together with our joint venture partner Delta Air Lines we’ve created an unrivalled service for customers travelling between the UK and US
“We’re the only partnership to offer Wi-Fi on every single transatlantic flight and fully flat beds with direct aisle access in every business cabin.
“From March 2018 even more customers will have chance to experience Virgin Atlantic flights between London and New York as we add an additional flight, and those travelling on Delta will be able to enjoy their fantastic A330 aircraft for the first time.”
He added: “2017 was a landmark year for Virgin Atlantic in Manchester, as we launched our hat-trick of new routes and coined the phrase ‘ManFran’ when we introduced the city’s first flight to San Francisco.
“We’re delighted to see that customers in the north-west are enjoying our unique flying experience, and 2018 is set to be even better with the introduction of an improved schedule which provides more seats on the most popular services, and will see more of our iconic 747s aircraft and a fully wi-fi connected fleet.”
Delta transatlantic senior vice president Dwight James said: “Our partnership with Virgin Atlantic was founded on and continues to be focused on improving services for our customers.
“The introduction of the A330 aircraft brings more seats and an enhanced onboard experience to the UK market, while our comprehensive network continues to provide a greater choice of destinations and schedule options for our customers across the Atlantic.”
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