Virgin Atlantic plans to step into the transatlantic flight capacity gap at Manchester Airport after Aer Lingus announced it would be cutting all its U.S. routes from the airport.
Virgin has said it will add capacity to Orlando this summer, by up to 12% or seven additional weekly flights in the peak months, and expects to add more flights in 2027.
There will also be more seat capacity during the winter when Virgin deploys the Airbus A350-1000 on the Orlando route.
Virgin also operates flights to Atlanta, New York JFK and Barbados from Manchester.
“Manchester has been our home in the north for 30 years and we’re in it for the long haul. Increasing capacity on our Orlando services is a clear signal of that commitment,” said Dave Geer, Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Atlantic.
Aer Lingus’ Manchester-New York route will end on February 23, and the airline will formally close its Manchester base at the end of March.
Customers booked for travel after March 31 are being offered refunds or rebooking on other routes.
