Virgin Atlantic has announced it will launch direct flights between Heathrow and Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport on 25 September.
The daily service will be operated by an A330-300 aircraft with Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class, Premium Economy and its three Economy seats – Light, Classic and Delight. It will offer a flight time of five hours.
Virgin Atlantic says the new route will offer more than 180,000 seats per year, as well as connections from Tel Aviv through Heathrow to destinations in North America both on its own route network and with its partner airline Delta.
The new route will take up Virgin Atlantic’s Middle Eastern flights after it ceases its Heathrow-Dubai route on 31 March.
New CEO Shai Weiss commented: “2019 marks the start of a new phase of growth for Virgin Atlantic as we work to achieve our ambition to become the most loved travel company. Tel Aviv represents a fantastic opportunity for us – Israel’s economy is booming and as one of the world’s leading tech hubs we’re anticipating many business travellers and entrepreneurs flying between Tel Aviv and the UK.
“We also see a significant opportunity to increase competition in the US-Tel Aviv market, using the strength of our transatlantic joint venture with Delta to offer customers from Tel Aviv a wide range of US destinations connecting through London Heathrow including New York and San Francisco.”
virginatlantic.com