Virgin Atlantic is to increase its frequency between London Heathrow and Hong Kong from daily to twice a day. The extra services will lead to the creation of 100 new cabin crew roles.

The new, second service will boost the number of seats available on the booming Heathrow-Hong Kong route and open up fresh opportunities for those passengers wishing to connect to other cities in China, or the wider Far East. It will also provide greater flexibility for stopovers, for those passengers wanting to break their journey if travelling to or from Sydney. 

From 28 October 2008, flight VS238 will operate three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and then operate daily from 4 December 2008. VS238 will depart London Heathrow Terminal 3 at 16.00, arriving in Hong Kong at 12.30pm the following afternoon.

Flight VS239 will operate between Hong Kong and London Heathrow on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from 29 October 2008, and then operate daily from 5 December 2008. VS239 will depart Hong Kong at 14.15, arriving at London Heathrow at 19.20 the same day. 

Steve Ridgway, Chief Executive of Virgin Atlantic, said: “East is the new West and this second daily service will offer our passengers even more opportunities via Hong Kong, which is the third busiest long-haul route out of Heathrow after New York’s JFK and Dubai. Virgin Atlantic, which is highly committed to the city and the Pearl River Delta, has flown well over 2 million passengers on this route since we started flying in 1994 and it remains one of our most popular services. We offer a big thankyou to the Hong Kong Airport authorities for helping to make this extra service a reality.”
   
The second service will complement Virgin Atlantic’s existing daily service, which connects London Heathrow with Hong Kong and Sydney. Flight VS200 leaves Heathrow daily at 22.30, arriving in Hong Kong at 17.50 the following day, before then departing Hong Kong at 19.20 and arriving in Sydney at 06.35 the following day. Flight VS201 leaves Sydney at 14.25, arriving in Hong Kong at 21.55. It then departs Hong Kong at  23.25 before arriving at London Heathrow at 05.25 the following morning.