Virgin Atlantic: ‘Let’s challenge the market’
Virgin Atlantic is setting a course to Canada.
The carrier will inaugurate service from Toronto to London Heathrow on March 30, 2025 and Simon Hawkins, head of Americas for Virgin Atlantic, was in Toronto last week to meet with partners and talk about plans for the new daily, A330-900neo service.
“We’re really excited to come back to Canada,” Hawkins told a briefing at Visit Britain’s offices in Toronto, noting that the carrier had “a brief stint [in Toronto] back in the early 2000s” that was “curtailed due to 9/11” and it also operated a seasonal service from Vancouver back in the early 2010s.
In 2024, Virgin Atlantic is celebrating its 40th anniversary, marking Sir Richard Branson’s launch of flights between London Gatwick and Newark using a single, leased 747-200 in 1984 and the beginning of a flight path that has featured a lot of remarkable achievements.
In fact, Hawkins emphasized the importance of that history, pointing out that “the original values and purpose” of the organization remain. “We are people-based with a rich history of innovation and that continues today.”
As examples of this, he pointed to Virgin Atlantic’s launch of Premium Economy in 1992, along with its introduction of seatback TVs, fully lie-flat beds and more features that have now become standards for the industry.
The carrier is bringing that innovative spirit with it when it comes to Canada, with Hawkins pointing out that: “When we launch Toronto, we will be bringing in our A330-900neo, which is our new aircraft … it’s a fantastic product … it’s Bluetooth enabled; there’s wireless charging in your seats; we also have the Retreat Suite — which is Two Suites at the front of the aircraft with significant leg room and it’s a very private suite that our customers can take advantage of.”
Of course, the obvious question is about the challenges of coming into the market on a route that is already competitive and whether there’s enough room for another carrier.
Hawkins was quick to respond: “At Virgin Atlantic, we always think there’s a spot. I mean, I can go back 40 years, there was a spot from London to New York. And you know again, what we stood for 40 years ago remains today — which is let’s challenge the market.
He continued: “We know there is a dominant carrier, but we think there is a space in there because we provide something very unique and we have the right partnerships and we have a strong appeal, not only the UK, India, but also the Canadian traveller as well; not to mention, Brand Britain continues to be a very strong attraction for the Canadian public.”
As for price, Hawkins made it clear that: “We will be competitive. We’re always competitive from a price point perspective and we’ve got some very strong lead-in fares that we have at the moment from all points of sale.”
And Virgin Atlantic’s return to Toronto (and Canada) is quite a bit different from almost 20 years ago.
Hawkins explained: “I’d be remiss not to talk about our partnership with Delta [Air Lines] and Air France KLM. We are part of a much bigger family, who overall, we operate collectively around 26% of the trans atlantic seat capacity – which is significant. We’re a smaller carrier relative to Delta and Air France KLM, but we play a very important role in that partnership.”
Virgin Atlantic also has a codeshare with WestJet, with Hawkins observing: “We see big opportunities in expanding that virtual footprint through codeshare, through frequent flyer reciprocity and WestJet is a really good partner that we have within Canada.”
As for where travel agents fit in the mix, Hawkins said: “We will start to focus on travel agents toward the end of this year. We’re already there, to be honest with you, because as I said we were with the Delta team — based in and around the Toronto area, but then also based across Canada — and, you know, we are already integrated from a program perspective. So the fares and the commissions that we have going to agencies are consistent with both Delta and Air France KLM. So, it’s a very strong fit. We’re already working through that, but you’ll start to see us really go live towards the end of this year.”
So, stay tuned … there’ll be more – lots more – to come from Virgin Atlantic …
