Virgin Atlantic is planning to launch a new route to the Bahamas during the upcoming winter season that will provide direct competition to British Airways’ long-standing service from London Heathrow (LHR).

Flights to Nassau (NAS) will be offered twice a week by Virgin from Nov. 20 onboard a Boeing 787-9 aircraft, with 31 upper class, 35 premium and 192 economy seats. The new route will target travelers seeking a warm-weather vacation in the Caribbean.

“We are seeing a real demand from our customers for luxury holidays in the sun with Brits keen to escape on their next adventure after a difficult year,” Virgin Atlantic CCO Juha Jarvinen said.

“We’re currently flying to Barbados, Antigua, Jamaica and Grenada and expect to restart Tobago and Havana, Cuba in the upcoming months. We look forward to launching new services to the Bahamas as well as the first direct service from Europe to St Vincent and the Grenadines in October 2021.”

The route between London Heathrow and Nassau has a flight time of about 9 hr. 30 min. It is currently served by British Airways three times per week using 777 equipment.

The latest schedules provided by OAG Schedules Analyser shows the oneworld alliance member intends to increase frequencies to 4X-weekly in late September, rising to 6X-weekly from early November.

As well as launching flights to the Bahamas, Virgin Atlantic intends to increase service to Barbados during the winter 2021/22 season. From Oct. 31, flights from Manchester (MAN) will grow from 3X-weekly to 6X-weekly, while service from LHR will expand from 1X-daily to 11X-weekly.

Photo credit: Getty Images / Laurie Chamberlain