Virgin Atlantic has announced it is increasing capacity from Manchester to Orlando and Las Vegas for summer 2015.

To meet high demand to two of its most popular leisure destinations, Sir Richard Branson’s airline is adding 24 additional flights to Orlando and Las Vegas, amounting to over 8,000 additional departure seats for the summer season.

Virgin Atlantic is adding a second daily flight from Manchester to Orlando on Thursdays and Sundays during July and August.

There will be a total of 12 additional return flights over the school summer holidays and this will increase the weekly number of flights from Manchester to the Sunshine State from 11 to 13.

Virgin Atlantic will also be adding an extra weekly flight from Manchester to Las Vegas for a period of 12 weeks between July and October.

The additional service will operate on a Tuesday, taking the total number of return flights to three per week over the season.

Joe Thompson, director of network and alliances at Virgin Atlantic, said: “We’re really pleased to announce we’re increasing capacity from Manchester to Orlando and Las Vegas for summer next year.

“Our focus is on our customers and giving them the best service at a competitive price.  Our reductions in fuel surcharges, competitive pre-Christmas sale fares and the Government’s cuts in APD for children have all laid the foundations for a great 2015 for our customers and, particularly, next year’s summer holidaymakers.

The additional flights to Las Vegas between July 28th and September 1st will be operating on an Airbus A340-600, configured with 45 Upper Class seats, 38 Premium Economy seats and 225 seats in Economy.

The additional flights to Las Vegas between September 8th and October 13th and all of the additional Orlando flights will be on a Boeing 747-400, configured with 14 Upper Class seats, 66 Premium Economy seats and 375 seats in Economy.