Virgin Atlantic has announced its first-ever South American destination. The British carrier will now link its hub in London-Heathrow (LHR) with Sao Paulo-Guarulhos (GRU), Brazil.
The airline will launch flights to Brazil starting March 29, 2020, with its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.
The British carrier has only established a presence in the American continent with the United States and the Caribbean. With this new service to Brazil, however, it is the first time Virgin Atlantic has ventured into lower latitudes.
According to the airline’s schedule, flight VS197 will depart LHR at 22:30 pm and arrive GRU at 06:25 am the following morning.
The return flight VS198 will depart GRU at 16:25 pm and arrive into LHR at 07:50 am, with a total flight time of 11 hours 55 minutes.
Both flights will offer a full onboard service including complimentary food and drink with over 300 hours of entertainment (movies, TV, and music) on Virgin Atlantic’s IFE system.
Alongside a full-service, the airline’s Dreamliners come equipped with 31 Upper Class seats, 35 Premium seats, 36 Economy Delight seats and 156 Economy classic/light seats.
Under the same announcement, Virgin Atlantic and GOL inked a new codeshare agreement that will serve 37 destinations across Brazil, to which both carriers plan to expand further into South America.
Both airlines will offer reciprocal frequent flyer program benefits to passengers flying under the same itinerary. The future South American codeshare destinations are planned to be Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.
Virgin Atlantic’s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) Juha Jarvinen stated, “We’re delighted to announce our codeshare agreement with GOL. Brazil is such a rich and diverse country and we’ll be able to offer seamless connections for customers from our brane new London Heathrow to Sao Paulo service onto 37 destinations across Brazil.”
Jarvinen continued, “With flights on sale from Tuesday 10th September 2019 and the first flight on 29 March 2020, customers will soon be able to enjoy Virgin Atlantic’s signature service to South America’s largest country”.
GOL’s SVP Sales & Distribution, Eduardo Bernardes Neto added, “We’re delighted to partner with Virgin Atlantic ahead of its arrival into Brazil next year. GOL offers a leading route network and high-quality service and we’re thrilled to be able to connect even more customers thanks to our partnership with Virgin Atlantic.” (https://airwaysmag.com/airlines/virgin-atlantic-to-south-america/)
