Virgin Atlantic is celebrating the first of its new summer flights between Belfast and Orlando and has also confirmed the return of the route for next year.

The weekly service from Northern Ireland to the Sunshine State will continue for four weeks this summer. 

It will return at the end of June next year with a further four return flights operating on a weekly basis.

To mark the launch of the first flight, customers will be treated to a special home-from-home service with an all-Northern Irish crew looking after them on board.

Joe Thompson, senior vice president, network and alliances at Virgin Atlantic said: “We’re extremely excited to be operating our first flights from Belfast and we’ve received a warm welcome from the people of Northern Ireland.

“We want to offer customers from all over the UK access to our popular leisure destinations during peak travel periods.

“Our new services have proved very popular and so we are delighted to announce the return of our Belfast to Orlando flights for summer 2016.”

Graham Keddie, managing director, Belfast International Airport, welcomed the arrival of the airline and its commitment to expand its service.

Keddie said: “Virgin Atlantic is a most welcome addition to our growing list of airlines.

“Take up has been so good that Virgin had no hesitation in announcing a return to Northern Ireland in 2016.

“It will cut quite an imposing dash at our International Pier with its eye-catching 747-400, and I know the service will increase substantially in popularity to easily justify the commitment it is making for 2016.”

The Belfast to Orlando service forms part of Virgin Atlantic’s joint venture partnership with Delta Air Lines.

A Boeing 747-400 aircraft will operate next summer’s Belfast to Orlando service on Thursdays commencing on June 23rd 2016.

The aircraft will be configured with 14 Upper Class seats, 66 Premium Economy seats and 375 seats in Economy.

Florida remains a key leisure destination on Virgin Atlantic’s network, and the new service will add an additional 1,820 departure seats from Belfast to the Sunshine State over the summer season.