Virgin Atlantic was able to increase its daily flights to Florida after securing an extra take-off and landing slot at Heathrow airport due to the war in Ukraine, it can be revealed.
The carrier, founded by Sir Richard Branson almost 40 years ago, launched its inaugural flight to Tampa last week, increasing to seven the number of flights it flies to the “crown jewel” US holiday state from the UK each day.
This was possible because the Russian state airline Aeroflot lost its 70 weekly slots – which allowed five return trips a day - after the UK government imposed sanctions in May. Russian planes were already banned from entering UK airspace.
Virgin was one of six airlines to secure a “windfall” pair of slots when they were put up for auction by Airport Co-Ordination, the organisation that allocates arrangements at Heathrow.
This resulted in Virgin bringing forward its plans to fly to Tampa. It already flies to Orlando and Miami. Up to 70 per cent of the airline’s flights are to the US.
The new slots have been awarded for the winter and next summer but Virgin has indicated a long-term commitment to Tampa if it can make the route profitable.
It is due to announce two further new routes later this month but destinations to the Far East are understood to have been ruled out until summer 2024 due to the ban on entering Russian airspace. A detour would add up to three hours to certain long-haul flights, making them unviable.
Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss, asked why it had chosen to fly to Tampa, told the Standard: “The southern part of the US is really booming. There is tremendous demand for this daily service. We believe this route can be successful.
“People think of Tampa for the beautiful beaches but it’s also a very important hub for business.”
Heathrow’s slots are dominated by British Airways, which holds the rights for more than half – about 4,600 a week.
Virgin has second most, about five per cent or 400 a week.
Slots at Heathrow, which has capacity constraints, are highly prized and can be worth around £20m or more.
Airlines such as Virgin Atlantic have been critical of Heathrow’s post-pandemic passenger services.
It is unclear what will happen once the war in Ukraine ends and the UK restores relations with Russia.
It is likely that Aeroflot will have to be re-awarded landing rights at Heathrow under a “reciprocal” arrangement that would enable carriers such as British Airways to resume flights to Moscow.
Virgin retains slots at Gatwick but has ruled out a return to the airport in the short term. It shut down its operations at Gatwick in 2020 as a cost-saving measure during the pandemic.
