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Daniel has loved aviation and travel his entire life. He earned a Master of Science in Air Transport Management and has written about travel and aviation in publications like Simple Flying, The Points...
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Virgin Atlantic is coming in hot with another new route announcement.
This time it’s from Tampa (TPA) to London (LHR) and starts in November, just before the peak winter travel season.
“We are delighted to continue our expansion in the US with this new daily service to Tampa, Florida offering even more choice for customers on both sides of the Atlantic to connect between the US and the UK,” said Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Atlantic.
Here are the details about Virgin’s most exciting new U.S. route.
Virgin Announces Tampa (TPA) to London (LHR)
Virgin’s new service will take flight for the first time on November 3, 2022, and will operate on a year-round basis.
To start with, the route will operate 4 times per week before ramping up to daily from November 28, 2022.
Here are the flight times:
Depart London (LHR) 1:25 p.m. — Arrive Tampa (TPA) 6:35 p.m.
Depart Tampa (TPA) 8:50 p.m. — Arrive London (LHR) 10:15 a.m. (+1)
Tampa (TPA) joins Miami (MIA) and Orlando (MCO) as the airline’s third Floridian destination and brings the total number of U.S. cities served to 12.
Not only that, but the route will mark the first-ever nonstop service between Tampa (TPA) and London (LHR).
“We at Tampa International Airport are thrilled to offer our first-ever nonstop route to Heathrow and launch this new partnership with Virgin Atlantic,” said Joe Lopano, Chief Executive Officer at Tampa International Airport (TPA).
When flights go on sale from July 13, 2022, the airline says passengers can expect to pay the following for a return fare between Tampa (TPA) and London (LHR):
When tickets go on sale, the aircraft showing to operate the route will be one of the airline’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. However, a spokesperson for Virgin told Upgraded Points that the airline’s top-of-the-range Airbus A330neo aircraft is a contender to operate the new route when it takes to the skies later in the year.
Be sure to check back next week when we’ll be getting an insidelook at what can we can expect from the interior of the new A330neos.
Final Thoughts
Tampa (TPA) has been unveiled as Virgin Atlantic’s 12th U.S. city to see nonstop service to London (LHR).
Acting as the only nonstop service between the 2 airports, the route will benefit travelers in both directions — especially over the popular winter travel seasons.