Member Article

Manchester Airport increases flights and capacity to US

Manchester Airport will have an increased number of flights to the United States as Virgin Atlantic Airways and Delta Air Lines, joint venture partners, launch new operations.

Virgin Atlantic have taken over daily flights from Manchester and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport from Delta and have increased capacity by 26%.

Capacity will be further increased on 22 May 2015 when Delta launch a new daily nonstop service between Manchester and New York.

Virgin Atlantic expects to fly around 165,000 passengers annually from Manchester to Atlanta and beyond on its new service.

Delta has operated services at Manchester since 1991, with Virgin Atlantic entering the market five years later.

The two airlines launched their joint venture on January 1, 2014 and had more than 4.6 million customers last year.

In addition to the new services, Virgin Atlantic has announced it is increasing capacity to Orlando and Las Vegas from Manchester Airport this summer.

The 24 additional flights will offer more than 8,000 additional departure seats.

Some 15 Virgin Atlantic pilots will also be relocating to Manchester to support this new flying programme.

Director of network and alliances at Virgin Atlantic, Joe Thompson, said: “Our joint venture with Delta means both airlines are better placed to meet customer demand for destinations they want to fly to.

“Our customers are already benefitting from the partnership and our new service will open up over 150 connection opportunities via Atlanta for our customers travelling between the north west of England and the United States.”

Delta’s vice president sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Frank Jahangir, said: “Having had a presence here for more than 20 years, Manchester remains an important market for Delta.

“New York has long been the most popular business and leisure destination in the United States and through the start of our nonstop services in May, it will now be easier for customers to visit the Big Apple.”

Aviation director at MAG, Mats Sigurdson said: “Atlanta and New York are key routes for Manchester, being two of the world’s largest hubs therefore offering incredible onward connectivity.

“This clearly showcases the increasing need and demand for direct travel between Manchester and the United States, which is testament to our ongoing ‘Fly Manchester’ campaign.

“As our passenger numbers continue to grow we strive to provide a wide and diverse range of international destinations to the 22m people in our catchment area, to ensure they have a wealth of routes available from their local airport.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Taha .