Virgin Atlantic confirms SkyTeam entry but rules out early Gatwick return

Virgin chief executive Shai Weiss said the alliance, of which its 49% stakeholder Delta is a key partner, was “an obvious extension for us”, given the joint venture Virgin has had with its US, French and Dutch partners since 2012.

SkyTeam chief executive Kristin Coleville said: “Virgin is the first new airline to join SkyTeam in over eight years. I’m thrilled that after all this time, the airline that does join is such an innovative and iconic global brand. For Virgin customers, this is opening up the world.”

She promised “the most seamless customer journey of any global alliance” using digital technology to merge booking systems “within six months”.

Virgin will be SkyTeam’s 19th member, and Coleville said a joining date of the end of January was planned but added she did not want “to over-commit”.

Weiss said the carrier had moved closer to the alliance every year in the past decade. “At some point we needed to take that next step. For our customers it is simply the right thing.”

Weiss ruled out any return to a Virgin Little Red short-haul venture connecting Heathrow with Manchester and Scotland “indefinitely”. He also said Gatwick was “not in our plans for 2023-2025” despite major shareholder Delta returning to Gatwick next spring after an absence of more than a decade with the launch of a JFK service.

He praised the West Sussex airport but said: “The problem with Gatwick is it does not have the connectivity.”

However, he promised more long-haul routes from Heathrow following the delivery of more aircraft. “We will be 10% larger once we have the Airbus A330neos. We do have new routes coming, there will be announcements next year,” he said.