VSbulletin COVID-19 Ongoing Travel Disruption - 1 October 2021
01 October 2021
News
Virgin Atlantic
It remains a dynamic time for international travel and we’re continually reviewing our flying schedules in response to the ongoing impact of Covid-19 and any restrictions in the destinations we fly to. We hope to be back to a full flying programme as soon as we can.
Because of ongoing travel restrictions and Red list designations we are making further adjustments to our Havana and Cape Town schedules, resulting in cancellations. We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused to our customers and look forward to returning to these destinations as soon as possible. The Red list should focus purely on Variants of Concern, in order to protect public health, therefore it’s imperative to rapidly and continuously remove countries that don’t pose a threat, in order to open travel back up to countries like South Africa.
With travel to Jamaica restricted for holidaymakers due to Covid-19-related restrictions, including current FCDO advice against all but essential travel, we’ve seen reduced demand for our new leisure-focussed Manchester-Montego Bay services and therefore we’ve taken the difficult decision to revisit our plans and push back the start of services to Autumn 2022.
Following the confirmed opening of US borders for fully vaccinated international visitors from early November, we’ve also adjusted some of our US schedules. In order to provide sufficient time to ensure operational readiness and as a result of wider network changes, we’ve cancelled further Seattle and Washington DC services. We remain committed to these routes and look forward to returning to both these cities in early 2022, while in the meantime offering a diverse US network serving New York-JFK, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, Boston. Our plans for popular Las Vegas and Orlando services will be confirmed very soon.
We apologise to any customers affected by a rescheduling or cancellation.
As a result of the fast-moving travel environment, we continue to make schedule changes which will affect our Flying Programme for the coming weeks.
We are reducing frequencies on several routes, however to ensure impacted passengers can continue with their travel plans, they will be reprotected to the most suitable alternative departure.
Where a flight is cancelled, and due to limited operations to these destinations, there will be no reprotection option available, these sectors will appear as UN.
Bookings affected by these changes will be updated in your GDS on Saturday 2 October 2021. Our most up to date flexibility policy can be found here
Cancellations Effective until & including
USA
LHR-IAD
28 Feb 2022
LHR-SEA
31 Dec 2021
Caribbean
MAN-MBJ
26 Mar 2022
LHR-HAV
25 Mar 2022
South Africa
LHR-CPT
30 Dec 2021
We are also making some frequency updates on selected routes. We will continue to keep our website up to date with all the latest updates to schedule and travel restrictions.
During October we plan to maintain operations on the following routes, subject to late changes:
Our flying programme
USA
LHR-ATL-LHR
7 per week
LHR-BOS-LHR
4 per week
LHR-JFK-LHR
18 per week
LHR-LAX-LHR
11 per week
LHR-MIA-LHR
4 per week
LHR-SFO-LHR
5-17 Oct, 3 per week 18-31 Oct, 4 per week
Caribbean
LHR-BGI-LHR
7 per week
LHR-MBJ-LHR
3 per week
LHR-ANU-LHR
3 per week
LHR-GND-LHR (via BGI)
2 per week
LHR-SVD-LHR (via BGI)
2 per week from 13 Oct
MAN-BGI-MAN
3 per week
South Africa
LHR-JNB-LHR
3 per week
India
LHR-BOM-LHR
7 per week
LHR-DEL-LHR
7 per week
Pakistan
LHR-LHE-LHR
3 per week
LHR-ISB-LHR
3 per week
MAN-ISB-MAN
4 per week from 8 Oct
Hong Kong
LHR-HKG
7 per week
HKG-LHR
1-10 Oct, 11 per week 11-31 Oct, 7 per week
China
LHR-PVG-LHR
1 per week from 22 Oct
Nigeria
LHR-LOS-LHR
7 per week
Israel
LHR-TLV-LHR
7 per week
Our partners are also back in the skies, and here's a reminder of where they are flying long-haul from the UK in October.
Our partner Delta Air Lines flying programme
LHR-ATL-LHR
Daily
LHR-JFK-LHR
1-19 Oct, Daily 20-31 Oct, 10 per week
LHR-DTW-LHR
3 per week from 18 Oct
Please check here regularly for updates and here for specific flight status.
Please ensure the latest traveller contact information is available within the booking so the latest instructions reach the traveller via SMS and email. Date Change & Refund Policies Everything you need to know to assist our customers with date changes and refunds can be found here. Face Mask Exemptions & Special Assistance
We need to remind you that if any of our customers require a mask exemption or have any pre-existing medical conditions, these need to be disclosed to Virgin Atlantic at least 48 hours prior to travel. You can contact our Special assistance team here or by emailing special.assistance@fly.virgin.com. Please ensure the customer has their booking reference when they contact us. Covid-19 Passenger Travel Information Everything your customers need to know before travelling and our flexibility policy can be found here.
