London Air Travel » Virgin Atlantic » Virgin Atlantic London Heathrow »
Virgin Atlantic has announced it is suspending its summer seasonal route from London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare airport from summer 2017.
The seasonal route had been due to return in 2017 from May to October. However, the route has now been suspended permanently.
It is something of understatement to say that the Chicago route has something of a chequered history at Virgin Atlantic.
The route has been launched and suspended on more than one occasion and most recently has operated on a summer seasonal basis only. It is highly unlikely that the route will now ever return.
Whilst no reason has been given for the cancellation, it is likely that United and British Airways & American Airlines offering significantly higher frequencies (some six joint daily flights in the case of AA & BA) has put Virgin Atlantic at a competitive disadvantage.
Affected passengers should contact either Virgin Atlantic or their travel agent to arrange re-routing via Delta and Virgin Atlantic services to other North American gateways such as New York JFK and Detroit.
They wouldn’t really compete on price. They were always more expensive and I prefer an airline that flies to London from Chicago year round (I use ORD to get to LHR several times a year).