As of March 2, Virgin Atlantic will join Skyteam, joining 18 airlines. Virgin Atlantic’s Skyteam membership was first announced in September 2022 by SkyTeam CEO Kristin Colvile. According to The Points Guy portal, the alliance’s inclusion process will finally go through as announced.
Virgin Atlantic’s entry makes it the first UK-based airline to join Skyteam, which also breaks eight years without new additions to Skyteam. Currently, British Airways is the country’s only airline within an alliance, being OneWorld.
SkyTeam emphasized that Virgin’s entry builds on the success of the transatlantic joint venture it has with Delta and Air France-KLM, both members of the alliance and operating out of London-Heathrow Terminal 3, along with other members such as Aeromexico and China Eastern, which will facilitate the transit experience for passengers. Virgin flies to 12 U.S. destinations under the JV with Delta and Air France-KLM, in addition to a major network in the Caribbean.
See also: Virgin Atlantic and LATAM Airlines apply to DOT for codeshare agreement
Such entry will provide customers with several benefits. These include easier connections between member airlines, access to airport lounges and the ability to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles through each other’s loyalty programs.
Virgin’s addition to SkyTeam will result in Silver members of the frequent flyer programs being recognized as SkyTeam Elite members, while Gold members will be Elite Plus.
SkyTeam is currently comprised of:
- United States: Delta Air Lines
- Latin America and Caribbean: Aerolineas Argentinas and Aeromexico
- Europe: Air Europa, Air France, Czech Airlines, ITA Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and TAROM
- Asia-Pacific: China Airlines, China Eastern, Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air, Vietnam Airlines, and XiamenAir.
- Africa: Kenya Airways
- Middle East: Middle East Airlines and Saudia.
New destinations on Virgin Atlantic?
The company stands out for flying to destinations with a significant foreign diaspora in the UK and corporate markets. In the Caribbean it flies to: Antigua and Barbuda (ANU); Nassau (NAS), Bahamas; Bridgwtown (BGI), Barbados; Grenada (GND); Montego Bay (MBJ), Jamaica; Kingstown (SVD), St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Providenciales (PLS), Turks and Caicos and St. Lucia (UVF).
It is also a major carrier in the transatlantic market between the United States and the United Kingdom with flights to Atlanta (ATL), Austin (AUS), Boston (BOS), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), Miami (MIA), Orlando (MCO), San Francisco (SFO), Seattle (SEA), Tampa (TPA) and Washington/Dulles (IAD).
The company’s other destinations include Shanghai (PVG) in China; Mumbai (MUM) and New Delhi (DEL) in India; Tel Aviv (TLV) in Israel; Male (MLE) in the Maldives; Lahore (LHE) and Islamabad (ISB) in Pakistan; Cape Town (CPT) and Johannesburg (JNB) in South Africa.
In 2019, the airline would have announced a plan for new destinations as Heathrow International Airport, London, bids for a long-awaited expansion, which includes a third runway.
The major growth plan for its network included 84 new cities, 12 domestic, 37 European and 35 around the world. Among the latter are 8 Latin American markets: Raleigh/Durham, Chicago, San Diego and Denver in the United States; Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary in Canada; Sidney and Auckland.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 health crisis hit and the company’s plans were delayed. However, Virgin Atlantic’s CEO, Shai Weiss, announced before the media the intention to include new destinations to Skyteam’s main hubs.
Currently, its fleet consists of ten Airbus A330-300, three A330-900, nine Airbus A350-1000 and seventeen Boeing 787-9; plus orders for thirteen A330-900 and five A350-1000.
