Virgin confirms Jamaican details
June 2007
Virgin Atlantic has confirmed that it will be entering into a codeshare agreement with Air Jamaica to increase the frequency of flights to the Caribbean.
Last week, newspapers reported that the move was likely and now Virgin has provided details of the expanded service between the UK and Jamaica.
From October 30th, Virgin will offer a twice-weekly service between Gatwick and Kingston. This will be in addition to the existing service between Gatwick and Montego Bay, which also operates twice a week.
The move will double the airline's capacity between London and Jamaica to 190,000 seats a year and should allow more people to travel to the tropical island.
Flights to Kingston will leave the UK on Tuesday and Saturday mornings, arriving in the Caribbean at lunchtime. The return flights will take off on Tuesday and Saturday evenings, arriving into Gatwick on Wednesday and Sunday mornings.
"All of us at Virgin Atlantic are excited about strengthening the relationship with Air Jamaica so that we can offer an expanded service to this beautiful country," said Steve Ridgway, the chief executive of Virgin Atlantic.
"We intend to offer a comprehensive network of connections between our three UK airports - Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester - and Jamaica via our US and Caribbean gateways."
Mr Ridgway indicated that Virgin also intends to increase the frequency of its services to Montego Bay when it takes delivery of a new aircraft.