ATLANTA, March 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air
Lines (NYSE: DAL) and Virgin Atlantic Airways are celebrating a
significant expansion of their trans-Atlantic partnership with the
introduction of six new daily services.
The two airlines begin their summer schedule this weekend and
will offer up to 39 return trans-Atlantic flights a day between the
U.K. and 15 destinations across North
America. The joint schedule now includes 10 daily flights
between New York and London
Heathrow, with eight daily departures from New York-JFK and two
departures from Newark. Customers
travelling between JFK and London Heathrow will benefit from a
memory schedule* of regular evening departures from New York.
"The Delta and Virgin Atlantic
partnership continues to offer increased customer choice on the
trans-Atlantic routes to London Heathrow – in particular from
New York," said Perry Cantarutti, Delta's Senior Vice President, Europe, Middle
East and Africa. "The
strength of Delta's network in
the United States and Virgin
Atlantic's strong presence at London Heathrow delivers a very
compelling proposition that allows customers in the U.K. to easily
connect to more than 200 destinations in the United States."
Virgin Atlantic is launching a second daily service between
Los Angeles and Heathrow, complemented by significant
investment on the ground with the first-ever Virgin Atlantic
Clubhouse in Los Angeles due to
open next month. Combined with the Delta service launched in October 2014, the partnership will offer three
daily flights from Los Angeles to
London and expects to carry close
to 400,000 annual passengers on the route.
Also launching this weekend is a seasonal second-daily Virgin
Atlantic service between Atlanta
and London Heathrow and a second service between San Francisco and London Heathrow that will
operate five days a week over the summer.
Joe Thompson, Director of Network
and Alliances at Virgin Atlantic, said, "We're very excited to
offer this range of new services and frequencies which are a
further demonstration of how our joint-venture partnership is
benefitting customers. Both Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines put
our customers at the heart of what we do. We are passionate about
giving them the best flying experience possible, and we look
forward to welcoming passengers on board."
The two airlines are maximizing the benefits of their
joint-venture partnership and increasing passenger choice by
aligning schedules to best meet customer demand. This will see a
transfer of operations that begins this weekend with Delta flying one of the Newark-to-London Heathrow services previously
operated by Virgin Atlantic. Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic will take
over Delta's Atlanta-to-Manchester service.
Further joint-venture services will be introduced later in the
summer. These include:
- A new daily Delta service
between Philadelphia and London
Heathrow starting April 26
- A new daily Delta service
between New York-JFK and Manchester starting May
21
- A new daily Virgin Atlantic service between London Heathrow and
Detroit starting June 1
- Virgin Atlantic is also offering a series of special
seasonal services this year from Orlando to Belfast,
Northern Ireland (June and July), and Las Vegas to Glasgow, Scotland (September and
October).
Virgin Atlantic is resuming flights from London Gatwick to the
Caribbean island of Tobago on Sunday and will be offering a weekly
service during the summer and a twice-weekly service in the
winter.
This summer, Delta flights
between London Heathrow and Boston, Los
Angeles and New York will
operate from Heathrow's Terminal 3
alongside all Virgin Atlantic services. Delta flights between Heathrow and Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis-St Paul, Philadelphia and Seattle will operate from Terminal 4. Delta
One and Upper Class passengers departing from London Heathrow
Terminal 3 will be able to enjoy a seamless transfer from car to
lounge via the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Wing. Business class
passengers travelling from Heathrow Terminal 4 will enjoy
complimentary access to the SkyTeam lounge.
Since the start of the joint venture, more than five million
people have travelled on its services with 10,000 people per month
connecting between the two airlines last year. The new schedule
offers connecting itineraries to 215 destinations.
Customers wishing to book travel on Delta and Virgin Atlantic's nonstop services
from the United States to the U.K.
can visit www.delta.com and www.virgin-atlantic.com or see their
travel agent.
About Delta and Virgin
Atlantic:
Launched on January 1, 2014, the
Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic Airways partnership creates an
expanded trans-Atlantic route network enhancing competition between
the U.K. and North America. With
up to 39 flights a day from the U.K. to 15 nonstop destinations in
the United States, the joint
venture provides a premier service with the benefits of an aligned
route network offering more frequencies, competitive fares and
harmonized service. The JV offers customers connecting in
the United States seamless access
to 215 destinations across 492 routes, as well as frequent flyer
reciprocity and global lounge access. Under the terms of this
agreement, the partners jointly operate their trans-Atlantic
routes, thereby sharing revenues and costs. For more information on
Delta or Virgin Atlantic, please
visit their corporate websites.
Notes to editors
* The term 'memory schedule' refers to regularly timed
departures during the New York-JFK evening peak period to London
Heathrow, starting at 6.30 p.m.
EDT.
Schedule information
Flight
number
|
Departure
|
Arrival
|
DL68
|
Newark at 7:00
p.m.
|
London Heathrow at
07:30 a.m. +1 day
|
DL69
|
London Heathrow at
9:05 a.m.
|
Newark at 12:31
p.m.
|
DL195
|
London Heathrow at
12:30 p.m.
|
Philadelphia at 4:00
p.m.
|
DL194
|
Philadelphia at 7:04
p.m.
|
Heathrow at 7:30
a.m.
|
VS23
|
London Heathrow at
3:45 p.m.
|
Los Angeles at 7:15
p.m.
|
VS24
|
Los Angeles at 10:20
p.m.
|
London Heathrow at
4:50 p.m. (next day)
|
VS41
|
London Heathrow at
3:15 p.m.
|
San Francisco at 6:15
p.m.
|
VS42
|
San Francisco at 9:
45 p.m.
|
London Heathrow at 4
p.m. (next day)
|
VS107
|
London Heathrow at
10.10 a.m.
|
Detroit at 1:15
p.m.
|
VS108
|
Detroit at 5.50
p.m.
|
London Heathrow at
6:25 a.m. (next day)
|
VS109
|
Manchester at 10.35
a.m.
|
Atlanta at 2:45
p.m.
|
VS110
|
Atlanta at
19.10pm
|
Manchester at 8.20am
(next day)
|
VS111
|
London Heathrow at
12.30 p.m.
|
New York-JFK at 3:25
p.m.
|
VS112
|
New York JFK at 8
p.m.
|
London Heathrow at 8
am (next day)
|
VS115
|
London Heathrow at
11:35 a.m.
|
Atlanta at 4:05
p.m.
|
VS116
|
Atlanta at 8:40
p.m.
|
London Heathrow at 10
a.m.
|
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SOURCE Delta Air Lines