The carrier said it was raising capacity to the Caribbean by nearly 300%, including the resumption of services from Manchester in August, as well as introducing a trade incentive to win flights to the region.

Virgin has brought forward the restart of several Heathrow-Caribbean flights from August to July to meet demand: Antigua services will rise to three times per week from 15 July, while flights to Barbados will increase to daily from 25 July, with an Airbus A350 being used five times per week on this route from the start of August.

The airline will also restart flights from Heathrow to Grenada from 16 July, with services operating twice per week, as well as resuming services from Manchester airport from 7 August with flights to Barbados three times per week.

Juha Jarvinen, chief commercial officer at Virgin Atlantic, said: “There’s long been pent-up demand to travel so we’re excited that we can finally whisk our customers away for a much-needed sunny break, with even more available flight options.  

“We’re also returning to Manchester as demand increases from our customers to travel to Barbados this summer. We’re pleased to be returning to our home in the north and expect to announce the restart of many more Manchester services soon.”

The airline is offering agents the chance to win four premium economy seats to Barbados through a sales incentive with details available through its trade website.