Delta and Virgin Atlantic announce their new integrated Heathrow timetable

In late September, Delta and Virgin Atlantic finally secured US regulatory approval for their revenue sharing venture on flights across the Atlantic. This follows the acquisition by Delta of 49% of Virgin Atlantic and, of course, the similar revenue sharing venture created by British Airways and American Airlines.

From the start of the Summer timetable in April 2014, Delta and Virgin will operate nine combined services between Heathrow and New York each day. Seven will head to JFK and two will land in Newark.

The airlines have published a Heathrow / JFK timetable, although weirdly they did not say which airline would be operating each slot!

To JFK, planes will leave Heathrow at 9.05, 10.15, 11.30, 14.00, 16.15, 17.35 and 20.05.

From JFK, flights will depart at 07.40, 18.30, 19.00, 19.30, 20.30, 21.30 and 22.30.

Despite having seven daily flights, Delta / Virgin still only accounts for 35% of seats between Heathrow and JFK, with BA / American controlling 63%. A similar deal is likely to be struck for the London to Boston route, which is the only other service operated by both airlines.

There is no word yet on Delta and Virgin sharing terminals at Heathrow. With Delta in Terminal 4 and Virgin Atlantic in Terminal 3, the benefits of streamlining the timetable are more on paper than in reality. This MAY be why the departure times from Heathrow are more spread out, to allow customers who just miss one flight to change terminals in time to catch the next one.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 15,000 Virgin Points):

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 40,000 Virgin Points.

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points. 

(Want to earn more Virgin Points?  Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)