Virgin Atlantic, looking ahead to the 2023/24 northern hemisphere winter season, revealed plans to start two new routes to island leisure destinations next year.
From Oct. 23, 2023, the UK carrier will launch seasonal service between London Heathrow (LHR) and Male (MLE) in the Maldives, the Indian Ocean archipelago. The route will be flown 3X-weekly with a Boeing 787-9 configured with 258 seats.
From Nov. 15, 2023, Virgin will commence year-round service from LHR to Providenciales (PLS) in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Caribbean archipelago. The route will be flown 2X-weekly, also with a 787-9.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to add these two exotic new routes to our flying portfolio,” Virgin CCO Juha Jarvinen said in a statement. “The Maldives has always been an incredibly popular destination for Virgin Atlantic Holidays customers, which is why we couldn’t wait to give them the opportunity to travel to the idyllic location … onboard Virgin Atlantic aircraft.”
Virgin is aiming to complete the process of joining the SkyTeam global alliance in early 2023.