Virgin Atlantic is set to resume its non-stop flights to Canada in March next year, ending over a decade-long hiatus. This move also marks a deepened cooperation with Canadian airline WestJet.
The British carrier will launch a new route connecting London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), directly competing with Air Canada, British Airways (Heathrow), and Air Transat (Gatwick). Starting on March 30, 2025, the flights will be operated daily using a mix of Airbus A330-300 and A330-900neo aircraft. The flights could be booked for next year starting from June 19th.
Khalil Lamrabet, the interim Chief Commercial Officer of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, highlighted that this service will help meet the high demand for travel between London and Toronto. “In 2023, more than one million passengers flew between these two international cities, making it our largest international long-haul market,” Lamrabet noted. “This is a significant win, not only in terms of capacity but also in providing more choices for travelers.”
Virgin Atlantic last served the Canadian market from May 2012 to October 2014, when it suspended its operations between LHR and Vancouver as part of a network restructuring. The airline also briefly offered flights between London Gatwick (LGW) and Toronto-Pearson (YYZ) in 2001, but this route was canceled just three months after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The new YYZ to LHR flights will be timed to offer “optimal connectivity” for passengers traveling to destinations across Virgin Atlantic’s network, especially Mumbai and New Delhi. Connections will also be available to cities such as Bangalore, Johannesburg, Lagos, and Tel Aviv.
To further enhance connectivity, Virgin Atlantic is expanding its codeshare partnership with WestJet, which is set to launch in October this year. WestJet will add its code to Virgin Atlantic flights from LHR to cities like Mumbai and New Delhi.
The agreement also includes WestJet’s domestic flights within Canada, with additional benefits for frequent travelers of both airlines expected to follow in 2025. This expansion builds on an initial codeshare agreement signed in 2019.