Virgin Atlantic Expands Caribbean Service

UK-based airline Virgin Atlantic Airways has launched its first direct services between Manchester and the Caribbean island of St. Lucia.

A Boeing 747-400 aircraft will operate the weekly service every Thursday. Virgin Atlantic currently operates a daily service between Manchester and Orlando and a weekly Sunday service between Manchester and Barbados.

The aircraft flying from Manchester will be configured with 14 Upper Class seats, 58 Premium Economy seats and 379 seats in Economy. The new flight will depart from Manchester International airport every Thursday. The return flight will depart St. Lucia the same day, arriving in Manchester the following morning.

Virgin Atlantic began services to the Caribbean in 1998 with direct flights to Barbados, St Lucia and Antigua. In 2003, the airline launched weekly services to Grenada and Tobago and in 2005; a twice-weekly service to Cuba and a weekly service to the Bahamas were introduced.

Earlier this year, the airline also launched direct twice-weekly services between Gatwick and Montego Bay, Jamaica, bringing the total of Caribbean islands Virgin Atlantic flies to up to eight.

Virgin Atlantic flies to 27 destinations worldwide, including St Lucia, with services to Mauritius launching in November 2007. The airline carried five million passengers last year and has 35 aircraft in its fleet with an average age of less than six years.