Summary
- When Delta Air Lines’ new Orlando service begins, the carrier will have eight London Heathrow routes.
- Virgin Atlantic has 11 US routes from the airport.
- Delta and Virgin have 19 routes and almost a quarter of London-US flights.
Delta and Virgin have an extremely close relationship. Delta owns part of Virgin, and both are SkyTeam members and transatlantic joint venture partners. Delta will begin Orlando-London Heathrow at the end of October, an always popular market from the UK. When the pair’s full November London-US network is combined, they will serve 14 US airports non-stop with 19 routes.
Related
Delta Air Lines Will Launch New Airbus A330-900neo Flights Between Orlando & London Heathrow This Winter
Flights will operate four times weekly beginning in October.
Delta and Virgin: London-US
The duo’s network is summarized below. There’s Delta’s new Orlando offering, although Los Angeles has ended (served 2023-2024). Virgin, meanwhile, introduced Tampa in 2022, although Austin was cut (served 2022-2024).
Photo: Ceri Breeze | Shutterstock
The following table shows the pair’s plans for London to the US in November when Delta’s Orlando service will be operational. Summer seasonal offerings, such as Delta from London Gatwick to New York JFK, are not included. As November is so far away, changes may occur. Treat it as an early snapshot as of June 25.
|
London-US airport pair in November* |
Delta |
Virgin |
|---|---|---|
|
London Heathrow-Atlanta |
Three daily 767-400ER/A330-300 |
Daily A350-1000/A330neo |
|
London Heathrow-Boston |
Daily A330-200 |
Daily A330neo |
|
London Heathrow-Detroit |
Daily A330-200 |
|
|
London Heathrow-Las Vegas |
Daily 787-9 |
|
|
London Heathrow-Los Angeles |
Double daily A350-1000/787-9 |
|
|
London Heathrow-Miami |
Double daily A330neo, 787-9 |
|
|
London Heathrow-Minneapolis |
Daily A330-300 |
|
|
London Heathrow-New York JFK |
Double daily 767-400ER |
Four*** to five daily A330neo/787-9/A350-1000 |
|
London Heathrow-Orlando |
Four weekly (A330neo; route begins from the UK on October 28) |
10 weekly A330-300/A350-1000/A330neo |
|
London Heathrow-Salt Lake City |
Five weekly A330-200 |
|
|
London Heathrow-San Francisco |
Daily 787-9 |
|
|
London Heathrow-Seattle |
Daily (A330neo; to be reduced to three weekly**) |
Daily 787-9 |
|
London Heathrow-Tampa |
Daily A330neo |
|
|
London Heathrow-Washington Dulles |
Daily 787-9 |
|
|
Totals |
Up to 11 daily departures |
Up to 18 daily departures |
|
* Excl. the pair’s other UK airports |
** To enable Orlando to begin, but neither the schedule nor available flights have changed when writing |
*** Four daily on November 2, 4, and 5 only; otherwise, five daily |
London-US share
Keeping with November, eight airlines have non-stop flights when all London airports are considered. Virgin and Delta combined have about one in four departures (24.6%). However, they have less than half the share of oneworld and transatlantic joint venture partners British Airways and American (55.7%). The two groups control eight of ten flights (80.3%) in this most important of long-haul markets.
Photo: Parkdolly | Shutterstock
The remaining fifth of services are by other carriers. There’s United (15.0%), JetBlue (2.7%), Norse Atlantic (1.9%), and TUI (0.1%). While United is the world’s largest Star Alliance member, independent and non-aligned airlines only have about one in 21 flights.
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments section.