Delta, Virgin Atlantic Expand Summer Flights Between US and UK

Delta and Virgin Atlantic have announced a summer flight lineup that includes more nonstop flights than ever before between the United States and the U.K.

According to a joint statement released by the two airlines today, the trans-Atlantic partnership will result in more than five million seats between the two countries this summer.

As part of the summer schedule, Delta Air Lines will resume the only nonstop services from Portland, Oregon and Salt Lake City to London’s Heathrow airport. The flights from Salt Lake City will begin April 1 and services from Portland begin May 3.

Virgin Atlantic, meanwhile, will add a sixth daily flight from New York’s JFK to London Heathrow, according to the statement. In addition, Delta will begin using a larger A330 on its two daily flights servicing this same route. The combined effect of these two actions will increase capacity between the two hubs by six percent.

Delta has also announced that it will begin using A330s on services to London from Atlanta and Detroit.

Additionally, there will be increased nonstop flights to Scotland and Northland Ireland, according to today’s announcement.

Delta and Virgin Atlantic, for instance, will kick off their biggest season ever to Scotland this summer, offering up to 17 flights a week from New York’s JFK and Orlando.

There will be daily nonstop Delta services from JFK to both Glasgow and Edinburgh Airports.

Virgin Atlantic said it will operate its longest season from Orlando to Belfast International– trebling the number of seats available.

And finally, as part of the newly announced enhancements, there will be multiple connections to Manchester.

Virgin Atlantic is increasing capacity between New York and Manchester and will introduce a Boeing 747 onto the service in May. The airline will also reintroduce its popular seasonal flights to Manchester from Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Boston.