VSbulletin COVID-19 Ongoing Travel Disruption - 29 October 2021
29 October 2021
News
Virgin Atlantic
It remains a dynamic time for international travel and we’re continually reviewing our flying schedules. As we consider our longer-term flying programme, we’ve taken the decision to restart our twice-weekly London Heathrow-Havana flights in the second half of 2022, when we look forward to returning to Cuba. We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused to our customers due to travel this summer.
However, we are simply not Virgin without the Atlantic and after many months of uncertainty, we cannot wait to welcome our customers back onboard, flying them safely to their favourite US destinations. We’re excited to confirm that the Biden administration has confirmed (on 15 October) that the United States will reopen its borders for fully vaccinated international visitors from Monday 8 November. This welcome news means that from 8 November, customers who are fully vaccinated with a vaccine recognised by the United States, will be able to enter the US as a visitor, be it for leisure, business or reuniting with loved ones. This latest easing of restrictions applies to visitors from the UK, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran, Brazil and the 26 Schengen countries in Europe.
The Biden Administration has subsequently published (25 October) details of its new international air travel policy, requiring foreign national visitors to the United States to be fully vaccinated.
This includes the health and safety protocols which departing customers to the US will need to follow from 8 November, when borders reopen to fully vaccinated foreign nationals.
Before customers travel, please ensure they are checking the countries entry requirements for their destination. Everything they need to know before they head to the airport can be found here, but it’s also important to check the latest government travel advice and entry requirements here.
Our flexible booking policy gives customers the freedom to book with confidence for departures up to 30th April 2022. Everything you need to know to assist our customers with date changes and refunds can be found here.
Our partner Delta Air Lines is also offering expanded flexibility and extended ticket validity through December 31, 2022. Visit Delta’s Waivers & Flexibility pages on Delta Professional for more information.
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 30 October 2021.
Cancellations Effective until & including
China
LHR-PVG
21 Nov 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 November we plan to maintain operations on the following routes, subject to late changes:
Our flying programme
USA
LHR-ATL-LHR
Daily
LHR-BOS-LHR
5 per week, 1-7 Nov per week, 8-30 Nov
LHR-JFK-LHR
4 x Daily, 1-14 Nov 24 per week, 15-30 Nov
LHR-LAS-LHR
4 per week from 8 Nov
LHR-LAX-LHR
2 x Daily
LHR-MIA-LHR
Daily
LHR-MCO-LHR
Daily from 8 Nov
LHR-SFO-LHR
5 per week, 1-7 Nov 4 per week, 7-30 Nov
MAN-JFK-MAN
6 per week from 8 Nov
MAN-MCO-MAN
Daily from 8 Nov
Caribbean
LHR-ANU-LHR
4 per week
LHR-BGI-LHR
9 per week
LHR-GND-LHR (via BGI)
2 per week
LHR-MBJ-LHR
3 per week, 1-14 Nov 2 per week, 17-30 Nov
LHR-NAS-LHR (via MBJ)
2 per week from 20 Nov
LHR-SVD-LHR (via BGI)
2 per week
MAN-BGI-MAN
4 per week from 4 Nov
South Africa
LHR-JNB-LHR
3 per week
India
LHR-BOM-LHR
Daily
LHR-DEL-LHR
Daily
Pakistan
LHR-LHE-LHR
4 per week
LHR-ISB-LHR
3 per week
MAN-ISB-MAN
4 per week
Hong Kong
LHR-HKG
2 per week
HKG-LHR
Daily
Nigeria
LHR-LOS-LHR
Daily
Israel
LHR-TLV-LHR
Daily
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
10 per week
LHR-DTW-LHR
4 per week
LHR-BOS-LHR
3 per week
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.
