ATLANTA and LONDON, May 31,
2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and
Virgin Atlantic today announced changes to their respective summer
2017 schedules to optimize their joint network between the United States and the United Kingdom. The move reflects the strong
partnership between the two airlines, which is focused on offering
customers more travel choices and flexibility.
The changes are as follows:
For Delta:
- A new four times a week Portland,
Oregon to London Heathrow seasonal service will begin on
May 26, 2017, the first between this
U.S. West Coast city and London.
- Beginning March 26, 2017, the
airline will add a second Detroit to London Heathrow service. This
new flight replaces Virgin Atlantic's daily Detroit to London Heathrow service.
- The airline will fly a third Atlanta to London Heathrow frequency,
taking over the second daily service currently operated by Virgin
Atlantic, beginning May 25, 2017.
Virgin Atlantic will continue to operate one daily Atlanta to London Heathrow service.
For Virgin Atlantic:
- Beginning March 26, 2017, the
airline will start flying between Seattle and London Heathrow, replacing the
daily service currently operated by Delta.
- A daily nonstop service between New York-JFK and
Manchester will commence
May 25, 2017 replacing the service
currently operated by Delta. Delta will resume service for the
winter 2017.
Erik Varwijk, Executive Vice President, Commercial, Virgin
Atlantic said: "We are delighted to further optimize our joint
services between the U.K. and the U.S. Our most fuel efficient
Boeing 787-9 aircraft will add additional capacity to the
successful Seattle route, enabling
more customers to enjoy the Virgin Atlantic experience on this
brand new aircraft. In Manchester, deploying our Airbus
A330-300 aircraft on this route will allow us to further meet the
growing demand from the Manchester
market, now offering a total of six direct flights to the U.S.
after the recently announced new services to Boston and San
Francisco. The network changes highlight the strength and
flexibility of our joint venture, allowing us to make smart
decisions that ensure the right aircraft are on the right routes
for our customers."
Commenting on the changes, Dwight
James, Delta's Senior Vice President Trans-Atlantic said:
"Adding a brand new service to Portland while increasing the scale of Delta's
reach across our Atlanta and
Detroit hubs provides a
comprehensive network of nonstop and connecting destinations for
both Delta and Virgin customers. The flexibility to adjust our
operations on routes between the U.K. and the U.S. is a solid
reflection of the cohesive strategy we have across the
trans-Atlantic. Since 2014, we have been building a partnership
that is centered around the needs of our customers while providing
network synergies for our airlines."
Beginning March 26, 2017, the
airlines' joint summer 2017 schedule includes a total of 42 peak
daily nonstop flights between the U.S. and the U.K. Of these, 28
flights will operate between London Heathrow and popular U.S.
destinations such as Los Angeles,
San Francisco, Atlanta and Washington and 14 flights will operate between
Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast, London Gatwick and Edinburgh to popular U.S.
cities.
The joint venture partnership between Delta and Virgin Atlantic
continues to grow, allowing both airlines' customers to benefit
from a high-quality and complementary travel experience with
customer service being a key priority. In 2015, the JV connected
almost 400,000 customers to over 200 destinations in the U.S., on
over 550 routes.
About Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines serves nearly 180 million customers each year.
In 2016, Delta was named to Fortune's top 50 Most Admired Companies
in addition to being named the most admired airline for the fifth
time in six years. Additionally, Delta has ranked No.1 in the
Business Travel News Annual Airline survey for an unprecedented
five consecutive years. With an industry-leading global network,
Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 330
destinations in 61 countries on six continents. Headquartered in
Atlanta, Delta employs nearly
80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more
than 800 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam
global alliance and participates in the industry's leading
transatlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia
as well as a joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Including its
worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than
15,000 daily flights, with key hubs and markets including
Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St.
Paul, New York-JFK and LaGuardia, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake
City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has invested billions of
dollars in airport facilities, global products and services, and
technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the
ground. Additional information is available on the Delta News Hub,
as well as delta.com, Twitter @DeltaNewsHub, Google.com/+Delta,
Facebook.com/delta and Delta's blog takingoff.delta.com.
About Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic was founded by entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson 30 years ago after he decided
the UK aviation industry needed shaking up and style injected back
into it. On 22nd June 1984, Virgin
Atlantic's inaugural flight to Newark took place, on an aircraft filled with
personal friends, celebrities and the media.
The airline has pioneered a range of innovations setting new
standards of service. For example, Virgin Atlantic was the first
airline to introduce the Premium Economy product, include a bar in
every aircraft for Upper Class customers, offer seatback TVs on
every seat in every cabin, develop a fully flatbed seat and fly a
commercial aircraft on biofuels. Despite Virgin Atlantic's growth,
the service still remains customer driven with an emphasis on value
for money, quality, fun and innovation.
Today, Virgin Atlantic flies to 33 destinations worldwide,
including locations across the United
States, the Caribbean,
Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Virgin Atlantic currently has a fleet of
39 aircraft, which is comprised of Boeing 747s, Boeing 787s, Airbus
A340-600s and A330-300s.
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SOURCE Delta Air Lines