Virgin Atlantic announced its arrival in South America starting from the first quarter of 2024, beginning with a direct flight between London/Heathrow and São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU) from May 13, 2024. This new route is part of a plan announced in 2019, which includes the addition of a dozen new destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean, with the goal of becoming the UK’s second largest operator.
In its 2022 financial report, Virgin Atlantic revealed a reduction in pre-tax losses of £206 million and plans to return to profitability in 2024, despite the macroeconomic uncertainty of 2023.
Following current trends, Virgin Atlantic has announced its return to Dubai (DXB), United Arab Emirates, and expanding its hub in Manchester (MAN) with new destinations such as Las Vegas (LAS), Barbados (BGI), St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVD), Grenada (GND), Maldives, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Bangalore (BGL), India, and São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU), Brazil, have now been added as part of their new destination plans for the first quarter of 2024.
New city, new country, new continent 🇧🇷
We’re so excited to be flying to São Paulo, Brazil. Home of samba, caipirinhas, beaches, beautiful natural wonders and rich architectural history. The first flights take off 13 May 2024 and go on sale in August. Viva! pic.twitter.com/dGOot4WvKf
— virginatlantic (@VirginAtlantic) June 5, 2023
An old plan resurfaces at Virgin Atlantic
In 2019, Virgin Atlantic had announced an ambitious medium and long term plan that included 84 new destinations, among them six cities in South America. However, the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and macroeconomic uncertainty have delayed much of this expansion plan.
One of the challenges for Virgin Atlantic is the congested London/Heathrow (LHR) airport, where the construction of a third runway has been planned since 2006 to allow up to 700 daily flights. However, due to environmental and political controversies, the construction of the third runway has been delayed until 2030. Despite this, Virgin Atlantic has obtained residual slots from airlines and routes that have ceased to operate at LHR, which has allowed it to add new leisure destinations in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean, such as the Maldives and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Regarding South America, in addition to São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU), Virgin Atlantic has mentioned Buenos Aires (Argentina), Fortaleza (Brazil), Santiago (Chile), Bogotá (Colombia), and Lima (Peru) as possible future destinations. Panama, Mexico City, and Havana are also mentioned.
The company will start selling its daily flights between London and São Paulo in August. Operations will be carried out in Boeing 787-9 aircraft, with a capacity for 264 passengers, divided into 31 in Business/Upper Class, 35 in Premium, and 198 in Economy, offering 3,696 seats per week.
Entering the Brazilian market would benefit LATAM, as they have a codeshare agreement since early 2022 covering 12 Brazilian destinations, with the possibility of expanding to LATAM Group’s regional and national network.
Currently, between Guarulhos and Heathrow, operations are conducted by LATAM and British Airways, each with a daily flight, on Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A350-1000 aircraft respectively, with an offer of 518 thousand seats annually.
Virgin Atlantic operates with a fleet that includes ten Airbus A330-300, four Airbus A330-900, ten Airbus A350-1000, and seventeen Boeing 787-9. The new routes will begin according to the delivery of new aircraft at the end of 2023 and 2024, which include twelve A330-900 and four A350-1000, which will completely replace the current A330-300s.
