Virgin Atlantic has announced that it will resume flights to Orlando International Airport from July 20 2020.
The UK-based airline is the main carrier from the UK to Orlando, which prior to COVID-19 operated multiple direct flights per day from both London and Manchester.
Due to the fall in air travel demand during COVID-19, the airline has permanently discontinued its London Gatwick operations, and will fly its London routes from Heathrow. The newly released timetable shows VS135 departing Heathrow at 1pm and arriving into Orlando at 5:15pm local time, flying a Boeing 787-9. In the same week, the airline will also resume flights to Honk Kong, Shanghai, New York JFK and Los Angeles.
Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer, Virgin Atlantic commented: “As the Covid-19 crisis stabilises and demand slowly returns, we are looking forward to welcoming our customers back onboard and flying them safely to their favourite destinations. To ensure the health and safety of our customers and our people, we’re introducing new measures at every point in the journey to offer peace of mind when taking to the skies with us.”
The airline's new health and safety measures include:
- health questionnaires before check in
- electrostatic spraying of high-grade disinfectant onboard in all our cabins and lavatories
- supply of a personal Health Pack which will contain medical grade face masks as a requirement to be worn onboard, surface wipes and hand gel
- a simplified hot food service onboard to minimize contact
Despite the airline resuming flights, what remains unknown is when non-US citizens will be allowed to enter the United States. Travel restrictions remain in place, preventing non-US citizens from entering the country. Both the UK and US state departs also advise against any non-essential international travel.
US President Donald Trump commented in late May that the travel ban may be lifted for European countries that are "making progress."
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