Virgin Atlantic and Delta are to increase their flights between the US and UK.
From March 29, 2020, the codeshare partners will both up capacity between Heathrow and New York JFK, by a collective 15%.
Delta will increase its services to three daily frequencies; Virgin Atlantic will operate five and introduce its Airbus A350 on the route from September 2019.
Virgin Atlantic is also set to increase flights from Heathrow to Seattle from seven to 11 per week and Los Angeles services from Heathrow will rise from 14 to 17 flights per week.
Gatwick will become Delta’s seventh transatlantic destination when it introduces Boston flights on May 22, 2020.
Virgin Atlantic will launch a daily flight to New York-JFK from Gatwick the day before. It will be the first time the airlines have both served the airport since their partnership began in 2014.
Delta also announced it is to begin flights between Manchester and Boston with a summer service from May 21, 2020, replacing Virgin Atlantic’s current operation.
Juha Jarvinen, executive vice president, commercial, at Virgin Atlantic, said: “Our announcement today marks another phase of growth, both for our transatlantic network and for our partnership with Delta. I’m delighted that between us, we’re increasing our presence across our hub airports of Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester, reaffirming our commitment to provide our customers with more choice, convenient schedules and an unrivalled customer experience across the Atlantic. Our increased services to Los Angeles and Seattle further cement our commitment to our west coast flights, which follow the introduction of our exceptionally popular Manchester – Los Angeles route that launched earlier this year.”
Roberto Ioriatti, Delta’s vice president, transatlantic, said: “Together with Virgin Atlantic, we are strengthening our presence in the northeast U.S. and in London, offering customers a greater choice of destinations combined with the excellent service they can expect from our airlines.”