Will Virgin Atlantic return to Gatwick? And what about Manchester growth?
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This is the final article this week based on my interview with Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss at the 40th birthday event for the airline in Las Vegas.
Late last week, The Times (paywall) quoted Sir Richard Branson as saying that the airline was “planning” to return to Gatwick airport.
Until it ended operations in 2020, Gatwick was arguably Virgin Atlantic’s “home” airport. It was from London Gatwick that Branson launched his inaugural flight to New York on the 22nd June 1984 – because the Government refused to give him Heathrow slots – and the Virgin Atlantic offices remain in Crawley.
When covid hit, the airline made the decision to consolidate operations at Heathrow. Flights from Heathrow were always more profitable thanks to a higher share of corporate travel whilst Gatwick was seen as a lower margin leisure operation.
Under Shai’s leadership, and with the help of CCO Juha Järvinen, increasing network connectivity (which includes codeshares on other carriers and SkyTeam membership) finally appears to be paying off.
Splitting operations across two London airports made little sense in this context: consolidating flights at Heathrow was arguably inevitable to increase the number of connections Virgin Atlantic can offer.
Just this week Virgin announced it was launching flights to Toronto based on the strength of the India – London – Canada passenger flows.
But Gatwick clearly still means a lot to Branson, who reiterated during the 40th birthday celebrations that he would like to see Virgin Atlantic back at the airport. When I spoke to Shai, he told me that there are currently no plans to return to Gatwick but that:
“We’re maxed out at Heathrow, we have a beautiful base in Manchester …. in considering the options for Virgin Atlantic for future growth, profitably, never say never.”
Consolidating at Heathrow isn’t as easy as it might sound, and puts some serious brakes on potential growth for Virgin Atlantic. With the airport still to announce whether it will continue to pursue a third runway under new CEO Thomas Woldbye, any airport expansion is at least a decade away.
The only way for Virgin Atlantic to grow would be to acquire slots on an adhoc basis (such as those it gained from Russia’s Aeroflot) or to increase flights from other airports. The latter would likely be less profitable and offers none of the connectivity options that Heathrow does. Neither option is ideal.
The key reason why Virgin Atlantic will launch flights to Seoul if the Korean / Asiana merger goes through is because Korean would provide the necessary slots at Heathrow (and in Seoul) for free as part of its concessions package.
What about Manchester Airport?
Speaking of the regions, let’s take a look at Virgin Atlantic’s operations at Manchester Airport. On Manchester, Shai said “Our home in the North remains a valuable base …. there are about 20 million people within two hours of the airport.”
Prior to covid, Virgin Atlantic had a strategy to substantially increase flights from Manchester by capitalising on the demise of Thomas Cook, which operated to 12 long haul destinations.
Those plans included building a Clubhouse in Manchester Airport to ‘level up’ the departure experience with that at Heathrow.
Whether through covid or through changing priorities (likely both), neither materialised. There are still only five destinations you can fly to directly from Manchester – Atlanta, Barbados, Orlando, Las Vegas and New York – and the long-delayed Clubhouse project was officially cancelled this year.
“For the level of activity there, we just couldn’t justify level of investment for a Clubhouse. It was a commercial decision.”
For now, large-scale expansion at Manchester appears off the cards. “You can think of adding another one or two planes to both Heathrow and Manchester”…. but with just five planes out of a fleet of 45 based at at Manchester, it will remain a much smaller operation.
For now, at least, Virgin’s pre-covid growth plans at Manchester have been put on ice. Shai told me that it’s doing very well – despite competition from the new Aer Lingus flights to the US – and they’re happy with their position in the market.
“If more opportunities present themselves and demand is greater, we will fly even more from Manchester.”
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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2025)
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):
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review
Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard
3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review
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.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 50,000 Virgin Points.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
The Platinum Card from American Express
80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review
Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.
American Express Business Platinum
50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points.
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