Article from BTNews 3 APRIL 2017
Virgin's Atlantic boom
A major growth drive was kicked off at Manchester Airport on Tuesday as Virgin Atlantic launched the first of a hat trick of new long-haul routes to America with an inaugural service to San Francisco.
It marked the first direct route to northern California from the North of England and has been hailed as a major boost to the Northern Powerhouse by providing direct access to and from Silicon Valley for regional UK tech businesses.
The airline followed Tuesday’s ceremony with another transatlantic launch the next day with a new service between Manchester and Boston and next month is increasing capacity on its Manchester – New York flights.
The Manchester events followed yet another launch for Virgin on Monday, when the airline showcased its B787 Dreamliner as it began its new daily service between Heathrow and Seattle.
Virgin has taken over the route from its partner Delta, with the Dreamliner adding 40,000 seats a year plus a Premium Economy service. The airline says it expects to fly 150,000 people a year on the route.
Meanwhile, Virgin last week revealed profits of £23m for the year to the end of December, broadly flat on the year before, but Virgin said 2016 had been a year of “challenging macro conditions”. Total group sales came in at £2.69bn.
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