UK carrier Virgin Atlantic is commencing daily Tel Aviv - London flights in September, "Yediot Ahronot" reports. The first scheduled flight will leave London Heathrow for Tel Aviv on September 25, with the first flight from Ben Gurion airport to Heathrow leaving on September 26 at 7.50am.
Virgin Atlantic's Israeli CEO Shai Weiss was recently in Israel, reports "Yediot Ahronot" to finalize details about the flights. Virgin Atlantic will face stiff competition on the Tel Aviv - London route against the likes of easyJet, Wizz Air, Arkia, El Al and British Airways but hopes to also offer connection flights from Heathrow, to a wide range of destinations in North America including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Virgin Atlantic was founded by British entrepreneur Richard Branson who recently sold his controlling stake in the carrier. In June 2018, Israeli Shai Weiss was appointed CEO of Virgin Atlantic, which has a fleet of 44 aircraft.
Virgin Atlantic also hopes to conduct a special festive launch of the route in May by flying over 258 British fans on an Airbus 330 to and from Israel to see the Eurovision Song Contest final in Tel Aviv.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 8, 2019
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