Virgin Atlantic cancels all Manchester-Delhi flights and launches its Summer 2021 schedule

Virgin Atlantic has revealed its flying plans for Summer 2021.  This follows the announcement that Sir Richard Branson is selling part of his stake in Virgin Galactic to raise funds to pump into the airline.

Whilst schedules are not normally finalised so far in advance, the lack of real Summer season this year and the opportunity to book 331 days in advance means that now may be a good time to think about plans for next year.

Whilst the airline is pulling out of London Gatwick for now, flights continue from London Heathrow, Manchester, Glasgow and Belfast.

(It is good to see confirmation that Glasgow and Belfast will continue, as they were not mentioned in the recent announcement about network changes.)

Virgin’s Manchester to Delhi flights are not on the list

What is noticeable by its absence from the list is the new Manchester to Delhi route.

This was due to launch on 26th October.  The plan was for three flights per week, picking up some of the slack left by the cancellation of the Jet Airwarys service between Manchester and Mumbai.

This would have been the only direct flight from Manchester to India.

It seems that this route, like London to Sao Paulo, will not launch at all.  Ticket sales have been closed for all dates.  If you are booked on this service then Virgin Atlantic will be in touch to discuss your options, with the Heathrow to Delhi service presumably being the preferred choice.

EDIT: As readers noted, Manchester to Las Vegas is also missing.

Where will Virgin Atlantic fly in Summer 2021?

Whilst it is impossible to predict when travel restrictions will be fully lifted, airlines and travel companies are currently preparing for a reduced but otherwise ‘normal’ flying program in 2021.

From the 28th March, which is when the ‘summer season’ officially starts in the aviation world, Virgin Atlantic will operate the following routes:

From Belfast

Orlando (press release says this is a ‘reduced’ service)

From Glasgow

Orlando

From London Heathrow

Antigua
Atlanta
Barbados
Boston
Cape Town (this is a winter service but will run until April)
Delhi
Grenada
Havana
Hong Kong
Johannesburg
Lagos
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Miami
Montego Bay
Mumbai
New York JFK
Orlando
San Francisco
Seattle
Shanghai
Tobago
Tel Aviv
Washington DC

From Manchester

Atlanta
Barbados
Los Angeles
New York JFK
Orlando

Whilst it recently cancelled the launch of its new route to Sao Paulo, it looks like Virgin Atlantic will go ahead with Cape Town from November 2020.

It is also increasing the frequency to Tel Aviv, which appears to be doing well enough since its launch in September 2019 to warrant a second daily flight.

Whilst Virgin Atlantic has announced that Summer 2021 is ‘on sale’ from 16th May, this is not fully true.  You can only book 331 days in advance, so a trip in July 2021 would not be bookable until August for example.

Virgin’s current ‘book with confidence’ policy currently only extends to travel by 31st December.  This cut-off point has been extended several times already but, that said, you should expect flights for Summer 2021 to go ahead as scheduled.

You can book on the Virgin Atlantic site here from 16th May.

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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 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 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.)