Virgin to launch London to Manchester flight route
Tuesday, 21 August 2012 9:01 AM
Virgin Atlantic has announced plans to launch a new short-haul service between London Heathrow and Manchester Airport in 2013.
From March 31st next year, the airline plans to operate three daily flights to Manchester using Airbus A319 aircraft.
With Manchester being a key regional airport in the north of England, 65 per cent of holidaymakers who travel between the two cities then go on to travel to a further destination – often heading to other cities served by Virgin Atlantic.
The airline hopes that, by branching out into domestic flights, they will offer holidaymakers more choice. Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive, Steve Ridgway, commented: “Our new service will provide strong competition to overly-dominant BA; keep fares low and give consumers a genuine choice of airline to fly to Heathrow and beyond.”
He added: “It is the perfect introduction to short haul flights for Virgin Atlantic – we know that passengers travelling from Manchester connect onto destinations we already serve; including Boston, Cape Town and Hong Kong.
“We changed the way consumers view long haul travel with our unique approach to flying and we are now in the position to do that to short haul travel too.”
Virgin Atlantic has sought to increase connectivity across the globe over the past two years - this Manchester route joins a new service to Mumbai and a sixth daily service to New York; both starting in October this year.
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