Virgin Atlantic to Increase Heathrow-Austin Route to Daily Service

Due to “huge demand” for the Texas city, Virgin Atlantic will increase its newly launched Heathrow-Austin route to a daily service beginning next spring.

The airline is currently flying to Austin, its first new US route since 2017, four times per week on a Boeing 787-9 with 31 Upper Class, 35 premium, and 192 economy seats and return fares beginning at £516pp.

Plans to expand the service were revealed during a celebration flight to the Texas state capital on Wednesday (8th June), with VIPs including Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Atlantic chief commercial officer Juha Jarvinen.

Branson called Austin a “fantastic addition” to Virgin America’s route network, praising its “entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, and innovation,” while Jarvinen called the Texas expansion the carrier’s “next phase of growth.”

Virgin Atlantic’s vice president of global sales, Lee Haslett, said bookings for the Austin service, which began on 25th May, were “well above” the airline’s predictions when it first proposed the route, with average ticket revenue 20 percent higher than other typical US destinations.

He added that Virgin Atlantic hoped to restart its Asia-Pacific destinations on 1st September, bringing the airline’s full route network back online for the first time since the pandemic began.