Virgin Atlantic has launched a new route from London Heathrow to Tampa, Florida.
Virgin will fly to Tampa from Thursday 3 November 2022. Flights will initially operate four times weekly and increase to daily from Monday 28 November 2022. The service will operate year round.
The city of Tampa on the Gulf Coast of Florida is Virgin Atlantic’s third destination in the state, after Miami and Orlando. Passengers visiting Florida can of course mix arrival and departure airports.
British Airways has changed its designated lounge for eligible passengers flying from Tampa International Airport to London Gatwick.
BA has previously used a third party lounge on Concourse F of the terminal. However, from 31 October 2018 the designated lounge for BA Club World and Silver and Gold members of the Executive Club is the American Airlines Admirals Club.
Under Oneworld alliance lounge access rules, eligible BA passengers have always had access to this lounge in any event. The lounge is located near to Gate 85 on Concourse F. The lounge is open until 19:15, 10 minutes before BA’s daily flight to Gatwick is currently scheduled to depart.
The lounge offers standard American Airlines Admirals Club fare with complimentary soft drinks and light snack foods. BA passengers should be offered a chit on reception for a “premium beverage” from the bar. There is also a food menu which, in the absence of any information to the contrary, has to be paid for.
On a tangential note, Norwegian has now started flying from London Gatwick to Tampa twice weekly on Wednesday and Saturdays.
Norwegian Boeing 787 at London Gatwick (Image Credit: Norwegian)
Norwegian has today, Monday 25 June 2018, announced a new route from London Gatwick to Tampa, Florida. The airline has also announced a number of other long-haul network changes.
London Gatwick – Tampa
Norwegian will fly from London Gatwick to Tampa twice weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 31 October 2019. Norwegian will be competing against BA which serves Tampa daily.
Flight DI7165 Depart London Gatwick 14:55 – Arrive Tampa 19:35
Flight DI7166 Depart Tampa 21:00 – Arrive London Gatwick 09:55
Norwegian’s routes to Austin and Seattle which both launched only recently will be suspended for the winter season from Sunday 28 October 2018 and should resume from late March 2019.
Las Vegas, which had been suspended for the summer, returns three times weekly for the winter.
Frequency Increases
The following routes will also benefit from increases in frequency:
– Boston from five times weekly to daily
– Buenos Aires from four times weekly to daily
– Fort Lauderdale from three times weekly to daily
– Orlando from three times weekly to four times weekly
Frequency Decreases
The following routes will be reduced in frequency:
– Chicago from daily to four times weekly
– Oakland from four times weekly to three times weekly
New York JFK will also increase to three times daily, as previously announced. The suspension of Austin and Chicago for the winter does suggest Norwegian has hit a ceiling in terms of year round routes to North America from London Gatwick.
All flights continue to be operated by Boeing 787-9 aircraft in a two class configuration, save where Norwegian has wet-leased aircraft as it has done to New York JFK.
Norwegian is of course subject to takeover speculation following International Airlines Group’s purchase of a minority stake in the airline. Should there be a change in ownership in Norwegian in the coming months it is highly likely there will be changes to its network.
