Delta, Virgin Atlantic switch Los Angeles and Atlanta services

Virgin Atlantic Airways and Delta Air Lines will transpose operations for direct flights connecting London-Heathrow to Los Angeles International Airport and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this winter. This will offer airlines' customers more alternatives on important routes across the Atlantic.

Beginning Oct. 26, 2014, Delta will commence serving one of two daily Los Angeles-Heathrow flights presently served by Virgin Atlantic. This will be Delta’s first direct flight between LAX and LHR and seventh direct destination between the United States and London. Virgin Atlantic will start operating one of the three daily flights between Atlanta and London Heathrow, presently operated by Delta. Until October 26 Virgin will keep on operating twice daily flights to LAX and Delta will keep on operating thrice daily flights to Atlanta.

The new services will not only provide passengers with more choices when traveling between the North America and United Kingdom, but will also offer award-winning amenities and services provided by both the carriers. Both the carriers will sign a codeshare on one another’s operated services, enabling passengers of both the carriers’ unlined access to the extended network.

Virgin Atlantic CEO, Craig Kreeger said we are very happy to see that our partnership with Delta is flourishing so well. It is not even one year and we have already co-located our important networks and made changes to our schedule for the welfare of our passengers. We have bettered our services for our frequent flyers also, now they can get lounge access and earn & burn miles across both carriers. This is just the beginning of the soon to come Golden Era of this joint venture. He further said, by gaining access at Delta's Atlanta hub we have been able to provide unprecedented and grand access to our passengers, allowing them to connect to 100 additional international and domestic connections throughout the Caribbean, Canada, Mexico and of course the United States.

From October 26, 2014 Virgin will fly from London Heathrow at 0925 hours and arrive in Atlanta at 1420 hours. Return flight will leave from Atlanta at 1730 hours and arrive in London Heathrow at 0635 hours the next day. Delta will fly from LHR at 1500 hours and arrive in Los Angeles at 2031 hours. Return flight will leave Los Angeles at 2121 hours and arrive in LHR at 1525 hours next day. Airbus A330-300 will operate ATL-LHR route and Boeing 767-300 ER will operate LAX-LHR route.

Both Delta and Virgin together serve 32 direct daily flights between North America and the U.K. Out of which 24 flights are operated between popular U.S. destinations and London Heathrow. Delta has recently co-located into Terminal 3 at London Heathrow shifting its Seattle, Boston and New York routes, providing added flexibility and alternative to passengers while trimming their onward transit times.