Virgin Atlantic Grows India Capacity With Bengaluru Launch, Additional Mumbai Flight

Virgin Atlantic is set to increase capacity to India for 2025, with plans for 2X-daily service to both New Delhi (DEL) and Mumbai (BOM) airports.

The UK carrier said it will add a second daily frequency between London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and BOM from Oct. 27. It will operate the frequency with an Airbus A350-1000.

With the added LHR-BOM frequency, Virgin Atlantic will fly to three Indian destinations with a total of five daily flights for the 2024-25 northern hemisphere winter season.

The UK carrier currently operates daily Boeing 787-9 service between LHR and BOM. Virgin Atlantic also already operates 2X-daily service between LHR and DEL, with a 787-9 used on both frequencies.

On March 31, the carrier opened daily 787-9 service between LHR and Bengaluru, India.

“From 2025, Virgin Atlantic will offer over one million [annual] seats to [India], a 350% capacity growth since 2019, cementing India’s position as a key strategic market for the airline and marking its largest area of growth outside the U.S.,” Virgin Atlantic said in a statement.

The airline noted the growth to India is “a huge boost for cargo operations with additional capacity to support the movement of goods … With five daily services, Virgin Atlantic Cargo will offer over 40 million kg of space to and from India, a 336% increase in capacity versus 2019."

The carrier said it has a codeshare deal with IndiGo enabling Virgin Atlantic passengers to connect through BOM and DEL, for example, to the Indian airline’s domestic flights to Ahmedabad, Goa and Hyderabad.

“There is a huge opportunity for us in India. It has a dynamic, fast-growing economy and we’re anticipating a huge growth in demand for international travel from the region,” Virgin Atlantic CCO Juha Jarvinen said. He said 2025 “marks 25 years of operations [to India] and the first time that we’ll offer more than one million [annual] seats from London Heathrow.”