Virgin Atlantic, Delta Air to boost UK-US flights in 2020

Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines will boost UK-US flights for the summer of 2020, joining forces at London’s Gatwick Airport for the first time.

Gatwick will become Delta’s seventh trans-Atlantic destination with flights from Boston starting on 22 May.

One day before, Virgin will launch daily flights to New York JFK from Gatwick, with the two airlines offering up to four flights a day to three US cities.

Delta’s return to Gatwick will mark the first time the airlines have both served the airport since their partnership in 2014.

Customers shipping to the UK from northeast USA will benefit from a choice of up to 18 daily flights between Boston and New York to two London airports, plus Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

From 29 March, Delta will operate three flights a day between JFK and London Heathrow, with Virgin flying five times a day.

The Delta flights will include a daytime slot for the first time, complementing Boston and JFK services offered by Virgin.

Virgin will also increase frequencies to Seattle from seven a week to 11, and Los Angeles services will rise from 14 to 17 flights per week.

Delta will return to Manchester with Boston flights starting on 21 May, taking over Virgin’s operations and increasing services from three a week to daily.

Dominic Kennedy, managing director of Virgin Atlantic Cargo says describes the partnership as “great news” for cargo customers shipping goods between the UK and US.

He says, “As we continue to build a platform for long-term growth, our summer 2020 schedule represents another strengthening of our joint venture with Delta Cargo and will help to reinforce our position as a carrier of choice on the highly-competitive trans-Atlantic market.”

Shawn Cole, vice president of Delta Cargo says the airline is excited to be returning to Gatwick and Manchester and growing the network from Boston.

He says, “Our new services from Heathrow will also be supported by the opening later this year of our new joint cargo terminal, which will ultimately double our cargo handling capacity at the airport and ensure we continue to meet our customers’ service expectations.”