Virgin rules out doubling Dubai-London flights

Fyfe: a double daily Dubai-London service is not on the cards this year.

Virgin Atlantic is unlikely to up its Dubai-London service to twice daily this year.

"We will always look at any possibility that comes our way, but one of the restraints will be the slot restrictions at Heathrow," the airline's regional manager for Middle East and Indian subcontinent, Andrew Fyfe, told Arabian Travel News.

"But if we could get more slots at Heathrow, then more Dubai services could be on the horizon."

The UK carrier, which launched its Dubai-Heathrow service last March, has already increased the size of the aircraft serving the route from an A340-300 to an A340-600 with 50 extra seats, and in its first year operating this route, witnessed average load factors of around 76%.

"We achieved a market share [on this route] of about 12%," said Fyfe. "We are aiming to increase this to 15% in our second year," he added.

Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic recently launched a London-Chicago service and will launch a London-Nairobi service on June 1, as well as upping its London-Washington DC routes to double daily for the summer period.

Fyfe has been charged with the task of launching the London-Mauritius route on October 29, which will operate out of Gatwick, where slots are easier to secure than at Heathrow.

Fyfe ruled out operating a Gatwick-Dubai service, but did reveal Virgin Atlantic was looking for secondary hubs in Europe

"Amsterdam, Madrid, Paris and Frankfurt are examples," he said. "But these would primarily serve routes to the US."

The Virgin Atlantic Middle East team is now gearing up to showcase its new premium class product at the forthcoming Arabian Travel Market (ATM) exhibition, which will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre from May 1-4.

The carrier will exhibit on the Sharaftravel stand, which will also be used to launch Delta Airlines' new Dubai-Atlanta route starting June 1.

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