Virgin plans extra flights to America

Richard Branson’s airline Virgin Atlantic is to operate extra flights to America from the UK this summer, creating hundreds of new jobs, it was announced today.

Virgin will fly additional planes to Boston, Washington DC and Newark in New Jersey from June 1 to October 30.

The airline will operate three additional services per week to both Boston and Washington and an additional Newark service.

Virgin’s expansion plans include the recruiting of around 1,100 new staff this year, of which about three quarters will be entirely new jobs.

Virgin Atlantic’s chief executive Steve Ridgway said the new American services would bring in “around 15,000 additional US passengers, mainly tourists, into the UK over the summer”.

The Virgin move coincides with the pound reaching its strongest position against the American dollar since 1992, something that has prompted a big increase in UK visitors to the USA.

Mr Ridgway said today: “These new services reflect the airline’s growing confidence in the North American market and increasing passenger demand for long-haul travel.

“With our load factors on US routes at record highs compared to the last few years these new services will also help to satisfy recent increased demand for travel to the US.”

He went on: “The load factors indicate that British tourists are taking advantage of not only the good fares available to the US, but also the favourable exchange rate.

“This is also great news for UK tourism. We estimate these new services will bring in around 15,000 additional US passengers, mainly tourists, into the UK over the summer.”