Virgin Atlantic is the UK’s second-largest long-haul operator. While it has scheduled services from London Heathrow Airport (LHR), Manchester, and Edinburgh, this article focuses exclusively on LHR.

OAG data shows that the SkyTeam member has an average of 31 daily departures from LHR in 2026. It has 13% of the long-haul services from the UK’s busiest airport. Influenced by the ending of various routes recently, Virgin’s activity has dropped by 3% year-over-year.

Virgin Atlantic Launched Flights To Seoul This Year

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The airline’s full network from LHR in 2025 was compared to what is scheduled for 2026. This process shows that two routes have joined the carrier’s network, the first of which was the South Korean capital, Seoul, served by Incheon International Airport (ICN). Virgin took off from LHR to ICN on March 29, with up to a daily operation using the 258-seat Boeing 787-9.

Flights to ICN were first mentioned in 2023, when Virgin joined SkyTeam, but then subsequently shelved. Virgin is highly unlikely to have launched flights but for Korean Air’s acquisition of Asiana. Various countries had to sign off on that deal, including the UK.

A concern was that only Korean Air and Asiana had nonstop passenger flights between the UK and South Korea, as British Airways pulled out amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. When the South Korean carriers become one single huge airline, as they will in time, there would be no head-to-head competition. Consumers would thus suffer.

To gain the blessing of the UK authorities, Korean Air/Asiana gave up slots so that Virgin could launch a daily service to ICN. Virgin must serve ICN for at least three years. However, as Virgin and Korean Air are both in SkyTeam and codeshare between London and ICN, there is no ‘real’ competition. As Asiana, Korean Air, and Virgin all operate, it is currently unclear when that’ll reduce to two carriers.

Virgin Begins Flying To Phuket In October

Credit: Flickr

The UK carrier’s second new route in 2026 is from LHR to the ever-popular Thai beach gateway of Phuket International Airport (HKT). The first departure will be on Sunday, October 18, which is exactly a week before Northern Hemisphere airlines, like Virgin, switch to winter schedules based on IATA slot seasons.

Virgin will serve HKT three times weekly during the winter only. This is a standard frequency for a brand-new long-haul route in an airline’s network, with only one airframe required. The airline will deploy the 258-seat 787-9, whose less premium configuration is well suited to this leisure-driven market. It’ll be the second time that LHR has had nonstop service to HKT, following Thai Airways during the pandemic in 2021/2022.

In the 12 months to July 2026, booking data via OAG Traffic Analyzer shows that approximately 253,000 round-trip passengers flew between London and HKT. Virtually everyone connected en route, mainly in the Gulf, with Emirates, Etihad Airways, and Qatar Airways alone having up to 12 daily flights from their respective hubs to HKT.

Nonstop flights from London are gradually increasing. In the upcoming winter, Virgin from LHR will join TUI Airways and Norse Atlantic from London Gatwick Airport (LGW; begins December 4).

They Are Virgin’s Two New Longest Services

Credit: Flightradar24

With a maximum block time of 14 hours and 30 minutes, Virgin’s ICN service has become the airline’s new longest nonstop route. This is based on flights from ICN back to LHR, which is, of course, influenced by headwinds and having to avoid Russian airspace. At up to 13 hours and 40 minutes, HKT back to LHR is second, which is also influenced by avoiding particular airspace.

You might wonder about Virgin’s Caribbean operations, some of which are flown on a one-stop basis. However, they have significantly shorter durations. The longest service is from LHR to Grenada via Barbados, with a maximum block time of 11 hours and 25 minutes this year. Of course, Virgin flew to Sydney via Hong Kong in the past, which was its longest ever scheduled operation.