There is some exciting news for Indian Travellers. Virgin Atlantic, a member of SkyTeam, has added two new destinations. These two destinations are Bengaluru in India and São Paulo in Brazil. It is indeed great news for Indian Travellers.
Virgin Atlantic New Destination: Bengaluru
Only a few cities in India have direct connectivity to London. However, most of the flights are concentrated in Delhi & Mumbai Airports. Major Airports in the Southern Part of India already have direct flights to London, all operated by British Airways, except Kochi Airport, from where Air India flies to London on every alternative day.
Bengaluru also has one British Airways flight at 06:50 AM daily. Now, Virgin Atlantic joins this route with one flight departing at 04:05 AM. As Virgin Atlantic has good connectivity to the USA from London, travellers from Bengaluru will now have one more option to fly there.
| Route | Flight Number | Departure Time | Arrival Time |
| LHR-BLR | VS316 | 11:45 AM | 02:15 AM (+1) |
| BLR-LHR | VS317 | 04:05 AM | 10:15 AM |
The bookings for the above flights will open from 14th June 2023 and the travel date from 31st March 204.
As Virgin Atlantic is a transfer partner of Amex, people of Bengaluru or nearby major cities can now use them for booking these flights. I expect a one-way flight to cost 20000 during the peak season. Whereas 10000 during off-peak season. More clarity will emerge at the end of June for the points requirement.
Virgin Atlantic New Destination: São Paulo
São Paulo is the capital of Brazil and the largest city based on population in America’s Continent. Only British Airways & Latam Airlines Brasil file daily from London to São Paulo. However, Tap Portugal has several flights to São Paulo from London with a layover at Lisbon or Porto.
This new direct flight from London should be positive for Virgin Atlantic and another option for Indian Travellers to travel to South America. Earlier, there were fewer than 50 flight combinations to visit this city from Major Indian cities.
| Route | Flight Number | Departure Time | Arrival Time |
| LHR-GRU | VS193 | 12:45 PM | 08:20 PM |
| GRU-LHR | VS194 | 10:10 PM | 01:25 PM |
The booking for this route will start from August 2023, and the travel date from 13th May 2024.
I expect the combination of India to London and then to São Paulo could cost 25000 Virgin points for off-peak dates and 45000 Virgin points for on-peak dates. More clarity will emerge in Aug’2023 for points requirement.
Other Destinations
Apart from Bengaluru and São Paulo, a few more cities have been added. However, these other new routes may not be used by most Indian Travellers. For Example, Dubai to London route with Virgin Atlantic isn’t for Indian Travellers until Indigo and Virgin Atlantic plan to make expand their codeshare agreement.
Cities with Airport Codes:
- LHR: London Heathrow
- DXB: Dubai
- MAN: Manchester
- LAS: Las Vegas
- BLR: Bengaluru
- GRU: São Paulo
- MLE: Malé
- PLS: Turks and Caicos
- BGI: Barbados
- SVD: Kingstown
Bottomline
Virgin Atlantic adds New Destinations to its network. These two destinations viz. Bengaluru & London makes sense for several reasons. Overall great selection of two great destinations to connect to the great city of London.
