Virgin Atlantic is making a comeback in Australia, four years after its major decision to ditch its route from Hong Kong to Sydney.
Virgin Atlantic has just revealed to KARRYON this morning that it will be establishing a full office back in Sydney, headed up by Gia Acitelli as Commercial Manager.
She is well-known for her previous work with Virgin Atlantic in Australia.
Although you will not see actual Virgin Atlantic aircraft in Australian skies , a full code share deal has been struck.
Virgin Atlantic will code share on the Virgin Australia services from Melbourne to Hong Kong to connect to Virgin Atlantic on the Hong Kong to London Heathrow route.
Virgin Atlantic will also code share on Virgin Australia services from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne to Los Angeles where they will connect to Virgin Atlantic services through to London.
Virgin Atlantic will also have a full code share on Delta’s Sydney to Los Angeles route to connect to one of the three daily services between Los Angeles and London.
When Virgin Atlantic ditched the daily flights between Sydney and Hong Kong in May 2014, the airline cited increasing costs and a tough economy as the two key reasons.
“These are still difficult times for the airline industry and as part of our strategy to operate more efficiently, we need to deploy our aircraft to routes with the right level of demand to be financially viable.”
Virgin Atlantic CEO Craig Kreeger told media at the time.
At the time the decision saw 47 ground crew and office staff lose their jobs in Sydney.
Meanwhile, just Last week Virgin Atlantic launched three new ways to fly economy as part of a multi-million pound investment.
Recognising that one size doesn’t fit all, from spring 2018 Virgin Atlantic will introduce ‘economy delight, ‘economy classic’ and ‘economy light’ tickets.
Economy delight offers seat with 34 inch legroom, priority check in and boarding as well as advanced seat assignment.
Economy classic will now offer free seat assignment – providing extra reassurance for families and groups that they can sit together.
The new economy light ticket will always offer Virgin Atlantic’s lowest fare – making long haul travel affordable and accessible for millennials.
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