Virgin Atlantic Bets Big on India, Reveals New Flights and Local Cabin Crew Hires

By R. Anil Kumar

• Virgin Atlantic reaffirms commitment to India with new services to Bengaluru and Mumbai

• Virgin Atlantic new daily direct services from London Heathrow to Bengaluru touched down on April 1, 2024

• Airline will launch second daily direct service from London Heathrow to Mumbai from October 2024

• New services complement Virgin Atlantic’s existing flying to Delhi and Mumbai

• Codeshare with IndiGo provides 36 onward connections from key hubs

Bengaluru, April 3. Virgin Atlantic has been serving India for almost 25 years. Today’s developments suggest its presence in the country will grow even further.

India now represents the airline’s largest growth area outside of the US, and there’s even more expansion to come.

On April 3, the company announced plans to double the number of flights between London Heathrow and Mumbai. A second daily service is due to begin on October 27 and will be operated by Virgin’s flagship Airbus A350-1000.

Virgin Atlantic signals its continued commitment to India this week as its new daily service to Bengaluru touched down and the airline also announced a second daily flight to Mumbai taking to the skies in October 2024.

The new flight to Mumbai will be the airline’s fifth daily service to India and from 2025, Virgin Atlantic will offer over one million seats to the country, a 350% capacity growth since 2019, cementing India’s position as a key strategic market for the airline and marking its largest area of growth outside the United States.

Alongside customer flying, the increase is also a huge boost for cargo operations with additional capacity to support the movement of goods from the fashion, pharmaceuticals, and tech sectors.

With five daily services, Virgin Atlantic Cargo will offer over 40 million kg of space to and from India, a 336% increase in capacity versus 2019.

To celebrate the new services, Virgin Atlantic CEO, Shai Weiss touched down in Bengaluru meeting with partners and customers while experiencing the bustling city for himself.

Shai joined British Deputy High Commissioner, Chandru Iyer, said the new services will operate on the airline’s state of the art aircraft, 787-9 Dreamliner offering customers the option of Upper Class, Premium, and Economy Delight, Classic and Light as well as the airline’s signature Upper Class social space.

It will also offer seamless connectivity and a premium long-haul experience for those customers connecting via London Heathrow to and from destinations throughout North America including Seattle, San Francisco, and New York JFK, with Virgin Atlantic and transatlantic joint venture partner, Delta Air Lines.

In addition to offering direct services to Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, Virgin Atlantic has a strategic partnership with IndiGo, India’s largest airline. Customers can book one ticket which allows them to connect seamlessly from other destinations in India such as Ahmedabad, Goa and Hyderabad onto London Heathrow.

In total the partnership offers 36 additional destinations and has so far connected over 80,000 customers since the launch in September 2022.

Virgin Atlantic is also pleased to quadruple the number of Indian based cabin crew this summer. Through GSA partner InterGlobe Air Transport, the airline will now average four Indian cabin crew on each flight in order to deliver a more personalised service to our Indian customers.

Shai Weiss, CEO, Virgin Atlantic commented, “I am thrilled to be here in Bengaluru, celebrating not one but two new Virgin Atlantic services. There is a huge opportunity for us in India, it has a dynamic, fast-growing economy and we’re anticipating huge growth in demand for international travel from the region.

We know both our customers and people love travelling here and we have a rich history in India. Next year marks 25 years of operations and with our new daily service to Bengaluru and second daily service to Mumbai, it will be the first time that we’ll offer more than one million seats from London Heathrow.

These new flights reaffirm our commitment to the country, allowing our customers to travel seamlessly throughout India and beyond, flying on one of the youngest fleets in the skies, with our signature service, delivered by our amazing people.”

Chandru Iyer, British Deputy High Commissioner to Karnataka & Kerala and HM Deputy Trade Commissioner – South Asia (Investment) commented, “I couldn’t be prouder to welcome another great British brand to the city of Bengaluru. Virgin Atlantic will continue to be a key player in strengthening our living bridge between the UK and India.

With the growing number of Indian business travellers, tourists, and students to the UK, the addition of Virgin Atlantic to the existing air travel options would be of tremendous benefit to the entire southern region of India, and we at the British Deputy High Commission Bengaluru warmly welcome Virgin Atlantic, Iyer said.”