(Bloomberg) — Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. will offer its first-ever flights to Austin, Texas, expanding its U.S. network in a challenge to British Airways.
Virgin will serve the state capital four times weekly starting May 25 with its fleet of Boeing Co. 787 wide-body jets, the Crawley, England-based carrier said in a statement Monday.
Airlines are swelling their timetables in a bet that the coronavirus pandemic that’s hammered global travel will finally begin to wane in 2022. Virgin has never previously flown London-Austin, a route pioneered by IAG AG-owned BA in 2017 and reopened in October after a 17-month gap.
The service will be Virgin Atlantic’s first new route to the U.S. since 2015.
