Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic has operated scheduled passenger services for the first time in three months, less than a week after clinching a £1.2 billion rescue package.
On Monday, the airline operated a landmark flight from London Heathrow to Hong Kong International, followed the day after by ex-Heathrow services to New York JFK and Los Angeles.
The transatlantic routes will be operated thrice weekly (apiece), with the airline adding that face masks will be mandatory for all passengers on board.
The airline has also previously indicated it plans to grade in services to a number of destinations over the months to come, including Barbados, Tel Aviv, Orlando, and Lagos.
Beginning today and tomorrow, Virgin Atlantic will serve Hong Kong, New York’s JFK, and Los Angeles-LAX three times a week. The airline said that safe distancing would be “adhered to wherever possible,” and face masks would be mandatory for all passengers.
Health Packs issued to passengers will include three masks per traveller – while more stringent than many other airlines, this reflects advice that masks need to be changed every few hours on long-haul services to remain effective.
Virgin Atlantic Chief Customer Officer Corneel Koster told Bloomberg TV last week that “bookings initially are looking limited and load factors will be relatively low.”
“We do believe there is pent-up demand out there,” added Koster, “but we don’t know when our major market to and from the US will open.”
Entry into the United States continues to be restricted to citizens and permanent residents.
