News: Virgin Barbados savings, Aer Lingus restarts Miami, Qatar Airways boosts Dublin

News in brief:

Virgin Atlantic offering discounts on Barbados flights

Virgin Atlantic is offering additional savings if you book a flight to Barbados before 21st February.

The offer is valid for services from Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh, for flights up to 15th December 2022. That said, the Edinburgh route is closing for the season this week after bookings fell below expectations. It is due to return next Winter.

The discounts, which apply to adult, child and infant fares, are:

• £30 off Economy Classic and Economy Delight
• £70 off Premium Economy
• £100 off Upper Class

You need to use the promo code ‘SUNNY’ when booking. The Virgin Atlantic website for Barbados flights is here.

PS. Rhys will be reviewing Business Class on the new Aer Lingus flights from Manchester to Barbados next month

Aer Lingus restarts flights to Miami

If you would prefer Miami to Barbados, Aer Lingus has confirmed that flights will resume from October 2022.

The service will restart on 21st October and there will be three flights per week from November.

One benefit of flying Aer Lingus to Miami is that you can clear US Customs and Immigration in Dublin. This means that you pass through the domestic channels after landing and can walk straight out of the airport.

Aer Lingus flights are bookable with Avios although the process is more complex than it should be. This article explains the different channels for booking Aer Lingus on Avios.

Qatar Airways boosts services from Dublin

In another sign of renewed demand, Qatar Airways has announced an increase in its Dublin flights.

From 27th March, services will increase from the current seven flights per week to 10 per week.

The additional flights will operate on Monday, Thursday and Sunday, with an 8.20am departure from Dublin. The existing daily service has a 2.55pm departure which leads to a late midnight arrival in Doha.

Gatwick Airport confirms the reopening of the South Terminal

Finally, the date for the reopening of Gatwick’s South Terminal is now confirmed as Sunday 27th March, the first day of the Summer flying season.

This is in line with the relaunch of British Airways European flights from the airport, which is currently scheduled for Tuesday 29th March.

A few years after consolidating all of their flights in the North Terminal, easyJet is once again going to split its operations between North and South. This is because easyJet will be running an expanded Summer 2022 schedule this year, using slots borrowed – for one year only – from British Airways.

BA codeshare partners which have also historically used the South Terminal are Aer Lingus, AirBaltic and Vueling.

For readers who do not use Gatwick regularly, the South Terminal is the one which is connected to the railway station. Heading to the North Terminal requires the use of the monorail service.