With Virgin Atlantic adding a plethora of routes, they are now also nearing pre-pandemic capacity levels, as things get back to normalcy.
Using data from RadarBox.com, we can see the carrier is literally a matter of weekly flights away from achieving this and could exceed this moving forward.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Virgin Atlantic’s Statistics…
From May 30-June 6, Virgin Atlantic operated 76 flights, based on a seven-day rolling average provided by the flight tracking company.
This represents an increase of 7.04% compared to the same period last year, where 71 flights were operated.
It also means that the carrier is just four movements short of achieving pre-COVID levels recorded in 2019.
Below is the last four weeks’ worth of data on the carrier:
| Date | 2019 Numbers | 2022 Numbers | 2023 Numbers | Percentage Difference (2023 vs. 2022) |
| May 2-9 | 79 movements | 64 movements | 78 movements | +21.88% |
| May 9-16 | 77 movements | 65 movements | 78 movements | +20.00% |
| May 16-23 | 83 movements | 67 movements | 77 movements | +14.93% |
| May 23-30 | 82 movements | 68 movements | 76 movements | +11.76% |
What we can see from the data is that Virgin Atlantic is very close to matching 2019 levels, and even on May 9-16, went as far as exceeding it. However, more consistency will be needed with this.
New Routes Will Help Exceed Pre-COVID Levels…
The plethora of new routes that Virgin Atlantic has announced already will help get those numbers over the line.
For instance, the return of services between Manchester and Las Vegas in 2024, the return of services to Dubai, as well as to its new routes across 3 continents.
On top of this, the carrier has received its 10th Airbus A350-1000, highlighting the level of growth and renewal that Virgin Atlantic is focusing on.
With its strong financial recovery seen from 2022, 2023 does look to be the year that the airline is planning ahead for overall long-term growth.
