Virgin Atlantic has put a new route on sale for summer 2022. Starting on May 25th, the airline will launch new four-weekly services between Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR). The service will utilize a Boeing 787-9 and becomes yet another major link for Austin as the city becomes more important for airlines.
Virgin Atlantic adds new summer service
Virgin Atlantic is now selling new four-weekly services between Austin and London starting on May 25th. Flights will run with the following schedule (all times are local):
- VS231 departs LHR at 11:35 and arrives after ten hours and 30 minutes in AUS at 16:05
- VS232 departs AUS at 18:05 and arrives after eight hours and 55 minutes in LHR at 09:00 the following day
Service runs on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from May 25th through at least October 28th. This marks the airline's newest route in the network and comes as summer 2022 is expected to be one of the strongest in years across the pond.
The new service will run on 258-seat Boeing 787-9 aircraft. This includes 31 Upper Class seats, which is the airline's international business class product. In a herringbone configuration, this cabin is in a 1-1-1 configuration, offering direct-aisle access from every seat. Following this are 35 Premium seats, which is the airline's premium economy product.
Configured in a 2-3-2 layout, these are similar to premium recliner-style products like a US domestic first class seat. Finally, there are 198 standard economy seats in a 3-3-3 configuration. Seats A, B, C, H, J, and K in rows 46 to 51 offer extra legroom. All passengers will have access to inflight entertainment via a seatback monitor.
Austin gets more competitive
Unsurprisingly, Austin is getting to be a more competitive air hub. Domestically, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have been adding new services in a bid to capture more travelers in one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States.
Long-haul international airlines have also been looking at Austin with significant attention. Amsterdam service on KLM is expected to start in March. This will complement Lufthansa's service to Frankfurt. Competing against Virgin Atlantic is British Airways, with its service between Austin and London-Heathrow.
Virgin Atlantic will run these flights in partnership with joint venture partner Delta Air Lines. Recently, Delta also recommitted to the airline with an investment. The joint venture also includes Air France and KLM. Loyal Delta flyers in Austin will have access to both London and Amsterdam next summer for transatlantic service. Passengers can also connect onwards to various destinations through either Amsterdam or London.
This route will not necessarily target connecting travelers. In London, a few connecting itineraries arise, including New Delhi (DEL) and Mumbai (BOM). Austin is also not a hub for Delta Air Lines. It only serves Austin from its hubs with some service to important spokes like Cincinnati (CVG) and Raleigh (RDU).
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Virgin Atlantic's US network
Arguably, Virgin Atlantic's most important network component is its transatlantic offerings. According to data from Cirium, next summer, the airline will have nonstop service to the following destinations from Heathrow:
- Atlanta (ATL)
- Austin (AUS)
- Boston (BOS)
- Las Vegas (LAS)
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- Miami (MIA)
- New York (JFK)
- Orlando (MCO)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- Seattle (SEA)
- Washington D.C. (IAD)
As Virgin Atlantic grows its fleet and the long-haul international recovery continues, the airline is expected to add more service between the US and the United Kingdom. Note that the airline also has scheduled US service from Edinburgh (EDI), Belfast (BFS), and Manchester (MAN).