Virgin Atlantic is set to boost its Airbus A350 service to New York by putting a second A350 on one of its most popular routes.

Starting September 10th, 2019, Virgin Atlantic will deploy their first Airbus A350 on flights between London Heathrow (LHR) and New York (JFK). According to a press release from Virgin Atlantic back in April, the full-service airline considers London to New York flight a flagship route.

With this in mind, Virgin Atlantic intends to put more of their new A350s on the transatlantic route to New York, rather than deploying the plane to different destinations.

British Airways to serve multiple destinations with the A350

British Airways has taken a different path, deciding to put their new A350s on various routes, rather than just sticking to one.

After being delivered from Toulouse last week, British Airways will put the aircraft on flights between London and Madrid (MAD) during August for crew familiarization. Starting September 1st, the aircraft was supposed to be put on the London Heathrow to Toronto Pearson (YYZ) route, but this has now been changed to London Heathrow to Dubai (DXB).

The A350 Toronto flights will commence a month later starting October 1st. The next two British Airways A350 routes will be London-Tel Aviv (TLV) starting on December 1st and then London-Bangalore (BLR) a month later.

In total, British Airways has 18 A350s on order with Airbus, four of which are due for delivery this year.

Second Virgin Atlantic A350 to serve JFK in late September

According to aviation website, One Mile at a Time, Virgin Atlantic’s second Airbus A350 will start flying London to New York on September 24th.

This equates to 13 weekly flights in each direction, with the exception being on a Thursday when Virgin plans to operate a different type of aircraft on VS045 and VS154 flights. The schedule, for now, is as follows:

• VS137 London to New York departing 11:50 AM arriving 2:50 PM
• VS045 London to New York departing 2:30 PM arriving 5:25 PM
• VS138 New York to London departing 7:00 PM arriving 7:20 AM (+1 day)
• VS154 New York to London departing 8:30 PM arriving 8:45 AM (+1 day)

Virgin Atlantic’s A350 will have a bar area

Virgin Atlantics first A350 features an all-new Upper Class cabin complete with a bar where passengers can gather and chat while enjoying a drink.

The A350 Upper Class cabin has been redesigned with the collaboration of some of Virgin Atlantic’s frequent flyers. As such, it's packed with new features, including:

• Every seat has a deployable privacy screen and is faced towards the window.
• Configured in a 1-2-1 layout, every suite in Upper Class features a seat that can be made into a fully flatbed.
• 5-inch entertainment screen that can be linked to passengers personal electronic devices.
• In line with other Virgin Atlantic Upper Class cabins, every seat will have direct aisle access.

When talking about their new Airbus A350s Executive Vice President Mark Anderson, commented;

“The introduction of our A350 represents a true evolution of our customer experience.

"We believe flying should be exciting, whether it’s your first or 100th flight with us and that’s why we’ve elevated our offering to provide our customers with something totally unique.

"The A350 forms a significant part of our fleet transformation strategy and by 2022; we’ll have our youngest, cleanest, greenest fleet in the sky as the aircraft transforms our customer experience, reduces our environmental impact and improves our route economics.”

If you are planning to fly on Virgin Atlantics new A350 service to New York, let us know in the comments what you are most looking forward to on the new aircraft.