Virgin Atlantic is doubling its flights between London Heathrow and San Francisco, by adding a second daily service from October 24th – and will be putting its newest aircraft on the route.

Last year Virgin Atlantic announced it would add a second service to San Francisco five times a week for the summer season, starting on March 29th.

Due to its popularity, the airline will be extending the service and next winter it will be flying the route twice daily, seven days a week from October.

The service will form part of the airline’s joint venture with Delta Air Lines, which offers up to 39 transatlantic flights a day at peak.

The new flight will be operated by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and will be operating with flight numbers VS041 and VS042.

From the end of the year a Dreamliner will also operate the first daily flight, meaning that customers visiting The Golden Gate City will consistently be able to fly on Virgin Atlantic’s newest, most fuel efficient aircraft.

From October the airline’s first flight to San Francisco will depart at the earlier time of 11.25, offering customers a better choice of departure times with a morning and afternoon departure from London and an evening and late evening departure from San Francisco.

Joe Thompson, director of network and alliances at Virgin Atlantic said: “We’ve been flying to San Francisco for 21 years and it is a great destination for both business and leisure travel.

“It’s one of the most popular routes on our network and we’re delighted to be able add a second daily service to help meet customer demand. Passenger feedback on our new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners has been fantastic and we are proud to be offering our newest aircraft on this route.”

Virgin Atlantic has also revealed the next routes on which customers will be able to enjoy the new 787-9 Dreamliners.

As part of Virgin Atlantic’s extensive fleet-renewal programme which will see 70 per cent of its fleet replaced between 2011 and 2018, the airline has already taken delivery of three of the aircraft with six more due over the course of 2015.

In addition to San Francisco, the 787s will be rolled out to several more routes this year, including London Heathrow to Hong Kong, Delhi, Shanghai, Los Angeles and Johannesburg.

Virgin Atlantic’s Boeing 787-9 aircraft are configured with 264 seats which consist of 31 Upper Class seats, 35 Premium Economy seats and 198 seats in Economy.

The quieter, more fuel efficient Dreamliner brings with it new innovations for passengers and a cutting edge product for them to enjoy.