Virgin Atlantic are set to launch direct services between Manchester and Barbados on Sunday 13 November. The weekly service will be operated by a Boeing 747-400 as part of the airlines continued expansion drive.  Virgin Atlantic currently flies to Orlando daily from Manchester.
 
Virgin Atlantic’s Manchester fleet has recently been fitted with the award-winning Upper Class Suite which consists of a reclining leather seat for take off, a place to sit and eat a meal opposite your partner, the longest fully flat bed in the world with a proper mattress for sleeping on, a private onboard bar to drink at with your friends and four limousines per return trip.

Sir Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Atlantic, commented

“I am very pleased that we are continuing to add to the Manchester flying programme along with our significant expansion drive across the network. I am confident that the new weekly service to Barbados will prove to be extremely popular with our passengers.  We also added extra services to Orlando this year taking it to an all year round service 7 days a week.  We have more than doubled our cabin crew from 60 seasonal Manchester based crew to 140 year round Manchester based cabin crew.

“The introduction of Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class Suite has received great reviews and won market share from our competitors.  The extra capacity in our Premium Economy cabin will also give more passengers a chance to experience a more intimate cabin with larger seat, priority boarding and baggage, welcome drink and newspaper.”

Justin Bell, Station Manger for Virgin Atlantic at Manchester Airport, said

“Our expansion at Manchester means that Virgin Atlantic’s award-winning product and more of our destinations are accessible for passengers living in the region.  We are sure that Barbados will be as popular as Orlando has proven to be for the last nine years.”

Amanda Wills, Managing Director for Virgin Holidays commented,

“This is fantastic news for Virgin Holidays and has long been in demand by our customers in the North.  Barbados is our number one destination in the Caribbean and these new direct flights will give our customers so much more choice and flexibility in their holiday.  We take more than 120,000 customers to the Caribbean each year and offer the most extensive programme to the Caribbean available.  The addition of Virgin Atlantic’s new Manchester to Barbados service is a very welcome addition to Virgin Holidays and will strengthen our position even further as the UK’s number one scheduled tour operator to the Caribbean.”
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