Virgin Atlantic trims schedule as it seeks Covid cash injection

It comes after Virgin sought to reduce its flight schedule in the new year to meet the limited demand for flying.

A Virgin spokesperson confirmed to TTG the airline has temporarily cancelled its Manchester-Barbados route, with passengers reprotected onto its four-times-weekly Heathrow-Barbados service.

Virgin has also reduced frequencies on a number of Heathrow services: Los Angeles drops from seven flights a week to five; Antigua, Delhi and Tel Aviv from four to two; Mumbai and Boston from three to two; and Miami from two to one.

"We recognise Covid-19 is an extremely dynamic situation, and that’s why we’re continually reviewing our flying programme, and monitoring the travel restrictions the UK government and our destination countries have in place," said a Virgin spokesperson.

They confirmed passengers booked on cancelled flights would have the option to rebook or request a refund.

In the first instance, though, passengers are automatically being provided credit equal to the value of their trip which can be used to rebook to alternative dates allowing for two date changes and a name change for travel up to 31 December 2022.

Customers booked via a third party or travel agent have been advised to contact them directly in the first instance.