Rumor: Virgin Atlantic To Launch Austin Flights

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While it hasn’t been officially confirmed, it seems highly likely that Virgin Atlantic will launch flights to Austin this summer.

Virgin Atlantic launching new US route

In early December 2021, Virgin Atlantic’s Chief Commercial Officer revealed that the airline was finalizing plans to launch a new route to the United States. The intent was for the route to launch in the summer of 2022, and it’s a destination that was described as serving both “leisure and business travellers” (then again, which route doesn’t?).

There has been a lot of speculation about what Virgin Atlantic’s next destination could be. People threw around all kinds of potential destinations, from Austin, to Houston, to Minneapolis, to Portland, to Salt Lake City, to Tampa.

Well, a reliable Twitter user who stays on top of route developments notes that Virgin Atlantic will be launching flights between London Heathrow (LHR) and Austin (AUS) as of the summer of 2022, with the schedule to be announced soon.

Virgin Atlantic to launch Austin this summer. VS231/232. Schedule to follow soon

— SPD travels 🚄✈️🌉 (@SPD_travels) January 6, 2022

For now I’m marking this as a rumor, since there hasn’t been official confirmation. However, it seems to me like this is likely to be accurate, and for that matter the news makes sense. Of course there’s always a chance that plans for the route fall through last minute, so don’t take this as a sure bet until the inaugural flight takes off…

Virgin Atlantic may launch Austin flights soon

My take on Virgin Atlantic flying to Austin

Austin has been one of the fastest growing cities in the United States for several years now. Many people are moving to Texas for the tax benefits, and if you’ve gotta move to Texas, Austin is as good as it gets (or something like that).

Virgin Atlantic wouldn’t be the only airline to operate this route, though. In 2014, British Airways launched flights between London and Austin, and the airline has had great success on the route. Capacity on this route has increased significantly over the years, and at times British Airways has even scheduled Boeing 747s to Austin. This coming summer, the airline is planning daily service with its flagship Airbus A350-1000.

British Airways already flies to Austin

What would Virgin Atlantic bring to the table? Well, there’s a transatlantic joint venture between Virgin Atlantic, Delta, and Air France-KLM, as the airlines share revenue and coordinate schedules across the Atlantic. So this would give that joint venture service between the UK and Austin, as an alternative to British Airways’ service.

Virgin Atlantic will face significantly more challenges on this route than British Airways, though:

Austin is a focus city for American, so there are connectivity opportunities there for British Airways passengers, while Delta only flies to Austin from its hubsVirgin Atlantic doesn’t operate any short haul routes, so there will be limited feed for these flights in London, unlike with British Airways

Virgin Atlantic isn’t the only airline in the joint venture planning Austin flights, though — KLM also plans to launch an Amsterdam to Austin route this spring. The service was initially supposed to commence in 2020, but the pandemic has delayed it. For those connecting from other points in Europe, chances are the KLM flight will be more useful, given how many short haul connections KLM has within Europe.

KLM is also launching flights to Austin

Bottom line

Several weeks back we learned that Virgin Atlantic plans to launch a new route to the United States this summer. While there’s still no official announcement, it seems highly likely that Austin will be that destination. The city has seen a lot of international growth, and this gives another transatlantic joint venture a nonstop flight between London and Austin.

I would guess that this route will be announced in the next week or two, so I look forward to learning all the details.

What do you make of Virgin Atlantic potentially flying to Austin?

By: Ben Schlappig
Title: Rumor: Virgin Atlantic To Launch Austin Flights
Sourced From: onemileatatime.com/news/virgin-atlantic-austin-flights/
Published Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2022 10:17:52 +0000

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