Virgin Atlantic to resume passenger flights on July 20
Virgin Atlantic has announced it plans to restart passenger flights on July 20.
The airline will initially operate London Heathrow flights to Orlando, Hong Kong, Shanghai, New York and Los Angeles.
Flights will resume to more destinations in August, with details to be confirmed in the next two weeks.
We’re taking to the skies again. We’ll be flying from @HeathrowAirport to Orlando, New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Shanghai from the 20th July. And with our brand new health and safety measures in place, you can be sure you can fly safe, and fly well: https://t.co/BCk1jCKFcqpic.twitter.com/2bqqBtUD7h
— virginatlantic (@VirginAtlantic) June 4, 2020
Virgin Atlantic has only operated cargo flights in recent weeks due to the collapse in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
It said in a statement: “As countries around the world start to relax travel restrictions, Virgin Atlantic will resume some routes on July 20, while steadily increasing passenger flying throughout the second half of 2020, with a further, gradual recovery through 2021 in line with customer demand.”
Chief operating officer Juha Jarvinen said the carrier is “monitoring external conditions extremely closely” such as the UK’s incoming 14-day quarantine policy.
“We know that as the Covid-19 crisis subsides, air travel will be a vital enabler of the UK’s economic recovery,” he said.
“Therefore we are calling for a multi-layered approach of carefully targeted public health and screening measures, which will allow for a successful and safe restart of international air travel for passengers and businesses.”
