UNITED KINGDOM: Virgin Atlantic on Thursday announced its return to passenger flying with service from London Heathrow to four international cities starting next month.
Starting on July 20 and 21, Virgin will begin flying from Heathrow to New York JFK, Los Angeles, Orlando, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. The carrier will then start gradually ramping up service to other destinations throughout the second half of 2020, and then throughout 2021.
Like a lot of other carriers, Virgin is planning to relaunch with new health and safety measures including increased cleaning of boarding areas and cabins, social distancing practices “wherever possible” including at check-in and boarding, and requiring masks.
Virgin will give all of its passengers a Health Pack that includes medical grade facemasks, surface wipes, and hand gel. It will also be offering a “simplified hot food service onboard” to reduce contact.
In its announcement on Thursday, Virgin also said that it is still monitoring all “external conditions extremely closely” including travel restrictions and quarantine policies for incoming travelers. The carrier still believes that with health and screening measures, it will be able to have “a successful and safe restart of international air travel for passengers and businesses.”
More routes from Virgin, some of which will start in August, will be released over the next couple of weeks.
