Virgin adds third Florida destination

The Crawley-based carrier will boost its connections to Miami and Orlando from November

Virgin Atlantic has added a third Floridian destination from its London/Heathrow hub, confirming that it will connect the capital with Tampa from November 3 - almost a year to the day since it relaunched flights between the UK and the US.

The new route – which bolsters connections to Orlando and Miami – will initially be operated on a four-times-weekly rotation before being upgraded to a daily connection from November 28. Tampa is the second new US destination to be served by the company this year, following a May announcement that it would also be connecting Heathrow with Austin, Texas.

Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Atlantic commented: “Florida is very much a firm favourite for our customers ever since our first flight to Miami back in 1986. With the popular theme parks and the stunning beaches of St Pete and Clearwater within easy reach, we know it’s an area our customers will love to explore.”

The carrier has yet to disclose what aircraft it will roster on the transatlantic link, but has provided details of flight times, with flight VS129 taking off from Heathrow at 13.25 local and touching down in Tampa at 18.35 local. The return sector heads east at 20.50 local before arriving back in London at 10.15 the following morning.

It is anticipated that a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner or an Airbus A330 would likely operate the service, with Virgin due to receive an initial trio of up to 16 A330-900s in the final quarter of this year.