Virgin Atlantic will base a fifth aircraft at Manchester for summer 2027 and add flights to New York, Orlando and Atlanta in its busiest ever season at the airport, while dropping its seasonal Manchester–Las Vegas route.
From April 2027, Manchester–New York JFK will rise from daily to ten flights a week. Orlando, Virgin Atlantic’s first Manchester route when services launched in 1996, will see up to 19 weekly flights in July and August. On Atlanta, the airline will fly the larger 335-seat Airbus A350 from April to October and increase frequencies from daily to 11 a week between 5 June and 15 July.
The extra aircraft, an Airbus A330-900 with 262 seats, will be based at Manchester in June, July and August.
“Manchester is our home in the North, and we’re taking our flying programme to new heights with our busiest ever summer with more departures than ever before,” said Dave Geer, Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Atlantic. “This growth reflects the strong demand we’re seeing from the region and our continued commitment to Manchester and beyond.”
Tom Bingham, Manchester Airport’s Head of Aviation and Business Development for Africa, Europe and the Americas, said Atlanta, home of Virgin Atlantic’s joint venture partner Delta Air Lines, “offers travellers from Manchester a huge range of one-stop connections onward across North America”.
The Las Vegas service will not return for summer 2027. Passengers already booked will be offered a full refund or alternative flights, including connections with Delta via New York or Atlanta, or Virgin Atlantic’s daily direct service from London Heathrow.
Manchester has been adding long-haul capacity, with Riyadh Air launching flights to the airport this year, while north-west England is drawing more investment in visitor infrastructure, including a new Premier Inn in Lancaster. On the transatlantic, Alaska Airlines has landed at Heathrow in a push into Europe.
