Virgin Atlantic to Increase Frequency of London-Islamabad/Lahore Flights from January 2023

[PK.786]

From Jan 23 vs have added 1 extra flight to Lhe will be 5 weekly and 1 extra to isb will be 4 weekly

[Abbas Ali]

London-Lahore

From January 10 (Tuesday), Virgin Atlantic London to Lahore weekly flights' frequency increasing to 5 from 4.

Five weekly flights every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday



From January 11 (Wednesday), Virgin Atlantic Lahore to London weekly flights' frequency increasing to 5 from 4.

Five weekly flights every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday



London-Islamabad

From January 11 (Wednesday), Virgin Atlantic London to Islamabad weekly flights' frequency increasing to 4 from 3.

Four weekly flights every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday.



From January 12 (Thursday), Virgin Atlantic Islamabad to London weekly flights' frequency increasing to 4 from 3.

Four weekly flights every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday.



Abbas

[Amaad Lone]

Whenever PIA re-enters the UK market I think they should get newer aircraft for the three cities.

PIA old 777s cannot compete with the Virgin 787s and the direct flight edge PIA had for 30 years is over now.

A330-neo, 787-9 or even A350-900 which can be used for US and Canada, standardizing long haul fleet to one type.

[Abbas Ali]

Virgin Atlantic Pakistan-UK flights load factors in the month of September rose to 90 percent



After two years of successful operations in Pakistan, Virgin Atlantic will be expanding operations in the South Asian country with the inclusion of additional flights between Lahore and Islamabad, and the United Kingdom.

The British airline’s decision to double down on Pakistan comes as part of its recovery efforts to recuperate its losses from the pandemic as it is strategically deploying its aircraft based on demand.

Virgin Atlantic is set to join the SkyTeam Airline Alliance in early 2023 and will be the only British airline in the alliance as it seeks to enhance group services to and from London Heathrow and Manchester. Its decision to boost flights to and from Pakistan is likely based on the same rationale and can be even seen as complementary to it.

The British airline will likely operate five two-way flights on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday from Lahore to London. The airline will also operate four flights from Islamabad.

Commenting on the development, Virgin Atlantic’s Head of the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia Liezl Gericke stated that the decision to double down was a testament to the success that the airline had found in its Pakistan operations in terms of brand equity as load factors in September rose to 90 percent between Pakistan and the UK.

Source: https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/202 ... -pakistan/

[adamalikhan]

It does not make sense why they are stopping Manchester to Islamabad route on 23.10. The demand from the North West and further a field is huge. Tickets from Manchester are currently £1000-£1200 with ME3 carriers.

PIA use to have up to daily service from Manchester once upon a time!

[baberblues]

I guess PIA offered a service regardless whether it made a profit or not for the diaspora however Virgin may hve crunched its numbers and thought that flying the MAN-ISB-MAN is not profitable enough, or that the types of passengers flying are mostly not business orientated, and therefore can deploy the aircraft at a better performing route.

I really think Virgin missed out on pushing this route forward with flying to both Lahore and Islamabad from Manchester. They can certainly try increasing demand going forward and stimulate the market.

Alas, doesn’t look like MAN-ISB was that much of a money maker.

[Abbas Ali]

OCTOBER 6, 2022 - Virgin Atlantic Head of Middle East, Africa and South Asia Liezl Gericke addressing a press conference arranged at Islamabad Serena Hotel

In a press conference on October 6 arranged at a local hotel in Islamabad, Virgin Atlantic Head of Middle East, Africa and South Asia Liezl Gericke said: "We are currently flying with strong load factors on Pakistan routes. In September, we flew with a 98 percent load factor ex-Pakistan collectively across all routes and the outlook for the rest of the year is promising".

"Pakistan is an extremely exciting opportunity for us as the United Kingdom (UK) is home to the largest Pakistani diaspora community outside Pakistan with over 1.5 million people. The UK-Pakistan market has always displayed strong underlying growth annually, with a strong combination of business and leisure passengers, which gives us confidence about the long-term potential."

"A significant number of passengers connect onto our extensive USA network from Pakistan via London Heathrow Airport. Islamabad/Lahore to New-York is our largest connecting traffic flow currently", she added.

"Virgin Atlantic carried over 120k passengers between UK and Pakistan in 2021 and was the number one airline for the year and in 2022 again, we are leading the market for point-to-point travel to the UK", she informed.