High flyers: Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic mark 10 years of partnership
The partnership has grown even stronger through the expanded joint venture with Air France-KLM launched in 2020, forming the leading joint venture across the Trans-Atlantic.
Since the partnership launched, the two global airline brands have grown their shared network, adding more routes and flights between the United States and United Kingdom and transporting nearly 40 million customers seamlessly across the Atlantic between the two countries.
“Since we brought together our two iconic brands, the partnership has gone from strength to strength thanks to a shared focus on customer service and making flying fun,” said, Delta’s Senior Vice President – EMEAI, Matteo Curcio.
“Back in 2014, the partnership deal was a game changer for Delta enabling us to up competition on the most popular business routes between London Heathrow and the U.S., offering customers greater choice, while providing Virgin Atlantic unparalleled access to Delta’s network across North America.”
The airlines now operate a joint daily schedule of up to 86 daily nonstop flights in both directions between the United States and United Kingdom – nearly 40% more than in 2014 – including up to 34 peak-day departures from London Heathrow to 15 United States gateways.
Virgin Atlantic’s Executive Vice President of Commercial, Juha Jarvinen, said: “We said at the time: ‘great minds fly alike’ and that’s as true today as it was back then.
“Our two award-winning airlines have flown millions of customers across the Atlantic and driven forward meaningful change in service excellence and responsible travel over the last decade to deliver the best travel experience for our customers.”
According to the carriers, Virgin Atlantic’s move to join SkyTeam in 2023 alongside Delta and Air France-KLM further enhanced options for customers traveling across the Atlantic, enhancing consistency with SkyTeam premium services including SkyPriority, alongside greater loyalty recognition.