Virgin Atlantic Begins Tampa Route

Virgin Atlantic has rolled out the red carpet for its newest route along with their newest aircraft. Virgin Atlantic has commenced 1x daily flights from Tampa International Airport to London Heathrow Airport aboard their newest aircraft in the fleet, the Airbus A330-900 neo (New Engine Option) Tampa International Airport passengers now have expanded travel options when traveling internationally on Virgin Atlantic. The new route will start out with 4 flights a week eventually increasing to 7 flights a week. 

 This new route commenced shortly after Virgin Atlantic announced their entry into the SkyTeam Alliance. Virgin Atlantic’s entry into the SkyTeam alliance awards Virgin Atlantic customers the ability to partner with airlines such as Delta Airlines and KLM while gaining award miles on partner member airlines. 

New Route = New Aircraft

Not only is Tampa International Airport a new destination for Virgin Atlantic but it also coincides with a brand-new aircraft. In 2019 Virgin Atlantic announced 16 firm orders for the Airbus A330-900 neo. The Aircraft began its inaugural flight from London Heathrow to Boston Logan on the 27th of October 2022 with Tampa following shortly thereafter. The Airbus A330-900 neo named Billie Holliday flew the inaugural Tampa route treating the inaugural passengers with some Cuban sandwiches and Two Tribes Floridian beer. 

The new aircraft sports snazzy new features such as the exclusive retreat suite, a unique space in the upper-class cabin with extra space and the ability to create a social space seating up to 4 people. The upper-class suites follow the growing trend of having private suites with full closing doors.  The premium economy seats feature USB charging and a 13” inflight entertainment system. Passengers in economy will be treated to a new seat product with USB power ports as well as wireless headphone connectivity on the inflight entertainment. The  A330-900 neo is configured with 30 upper class suites, 2 Retreat suites, 46 premium economy seats and 184 economy seats.

A Very Virgin Atlantic Celebration 

To celebrate the new route and aircraft Virgin Atlantic invited The Path Less Traveled to a celebratory event in Tampa. At the event Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss got on stage to talk about the new route and aircraft joined by Virgin Atlantic crewmembers. We could sense the excitement from the airline as well as the attendees. A Special thank you to the Virgin Atlantic team for the special invite. Wishing Virgin Atlantic all the best on their new destination and aircraft. We look forward to reviewing Virgin Atlantic’s A330-900 neo in economy class from Boston to London in February.