Virgin Atlantic cancels Spring 2023 flights from Edinburgh to Orlando - full list of flights affected

The announcement will no doubt scupper the plans of hundreds of holidaymakers planning to fly from Edinburgh to Orlando, Florida in 2023

Virgin Atlantic has cancelled its flights from Edinburgh to Orlando during Spring 2023 as the company struggles to keep up with demand following the Covid-19 pandemic. The company said it had had to ‘make adjustments’ to its upcoming flying schedule in order to “support the ramp up” of its operation and “reflect changes in customer demand outlook”.

It means that the airline’s scheduled flights to Orlando from Edinburgh Airport will resume later than planned on June 21, as opposed to the original date of April 1 - scuppering plans for hundreds of holidaymakers. Virgin Atlantic said it would contact customers affected by the changes from October 20 to discuss their options, including requesting a voucher of a full refund.

Meanwhile, advance cancellations have also been made on other major routes including Manchester - Atlanta and Belfast - Orlando. The airline’s London Heathrow – Shanghai services will resume at a later date.

A Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747.

Virgin Atlantic cancellations and changes - full list of all the affected flights

Any customers affected travelling on these services will be contacted from October 13 2022:

• London Heathrow to Tobago flights will be cancelled from January 11, 2023
• Manchester to Orlando services reduce from 12 per week to seven per week in May and June 2023
• Belfast to Orlando will not operate during summer 2023
• London Heathrow to Orlando will reduce from 14 per week to 11 per week in May and June 2023
• London Heathrow to Shanghai will now restart on May 1, 2023

Any customers affected travelling on these services will be contacted from October 20 2022:

• Manchester to Atlanta will be paused during April and May 2023
• Edinburgh to Orlando will resume later than planned. Rather than April 1, 2023 it will resume on June 21

• London Heathrow to Antigua will be reduced to one tag flight per week from May 11 to October 28, 2023

Additional flights are:

• London Heathrow to New York JFK will increase to six times daily during April 2023
• London Heathrow to Islamabad will operate three services per week
• London Heathrow to Lahore will operate four services per week
• London Heathrow to Miami will increase from seven services per week to 10
• London Heathrow to Austin will increase from four to seven per week in May, June, September

What Virgin Atlantic said in full

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “As customer demand continues to return strongly after the Covid-19 pandemic, we’re making adjustments to upcoming flying schedules to support the ramp up of our operation and to reflect changes in customer demand outlook.

“As a result, during the Summer 2023 season, we’ve implemented some changes to service frequencies and aircraft types and unfortunately made some advance cancellations on certain routes, including Manchester – Atlanta and Edinburgh – Orlando during the Spring and Belfast - Orlando next summer. Our London Heathrow – Shanghai services are also now set to resume on the slightly later date of 1^st May 2023, restarting an important link between the UK and China.”

The spokesperson added that as part of the changes, the company had also taken the commercial decision to end its Heathrow to Tobago flights from January 11, 2023. “We’d like to sincerely thank our partners in Trinidad and Tobago for all their support over the years,” they went on. “This beautiful destination will always hold a very special place in our hearts

“We have a commitment to fly the routes where our customers most want to travel and responding to continued demand for our US heartland, we will be introducing three additional Miami services per week, with New York-JFK frequencies also increased to six times per day. Summer services from Heathrow to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad will operate three times a week and Lahore, four times and our popular Austin route, which launched in May 2022, will increase to daily flying in peak months.

“We’d like to apologise for any inconvenience caused and ask customers not to call our contact centre but reassure affected customers that they will be contacted in the coming days with their options. Where a flight is cancelled, customers have the choice to request a voucher or full refund. If re-routing is a suitable and available option, we can also rebook customers on alternative services. Those who booked via a third party such as a travel agent should contact them directly for their options.”