Virgin Atlantic is reinstating its full portfolio of US destinations for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic next month.
The transatlantic carrier is to restart five weekly services from Heathrow to Seattle on March 2 and the same number of weekly services to Washington DC on March 5.
It reported bookings at 50% up year on year as it confirmed capacity to New York, San Francisco and Atlanta would also increase in March, in line with demand.
Virgin Atlantic said the ramping-up of capacity will see it offer more flights from the UK to Los Angeles and Orlando than any other airline from April when a third daily service from Heathrow to LAX begins as the carrier ups its Orlando flights from Heathrow, Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast.
Last month, Virgin Atlantic announced its first new US route since 2015, to Austin, Texas which will operate four times weekly from May 25.
Chief commercial officer Juha Jarvinen said: “Following the relaxation of travel restrictions, we’ve seen demand increase to many of our global destinations, but particularly to our heartland in the USA. Our customers can’t wait to return.
“The restart of our Seattle and Washington DC services mark an important milestone, as we move into recovery and welcome our customers back on board to all the destinations they’ve missed.
“We’re simply not Virgin without the Atlantic and our growing transatlantic portfolio demonstrates why we’re the airline of choice to the USA.”
Virgin Atlantic flights to the US will offer onward connections on codeshare flights operated by Delta.
The airline has retained its unlimited free date and flight change policy for new bookings for travel up to August 31, 2022.