Virgin Atlantic will return to Canada with flights between Toronto and London launching on March 30, 2025. Virgin last flew to Vancouver in the early 2010s.
The new flights will operated daily with a mix of aircraft including the Airbus A330-900neo and will allow for good connections to Virgin’s other flights, primarily to India. The schedule of the new flights have not been revealed yet.
With today’s news also comes the announcement of expanded codesharing between WestJet and Virgin Atlantic.
Through this expansion, WestJet will sell itineraries including flights operated by Virgin Atlantic from London Heathrow (LHR) to destinations within Virgin Atlantic’s international network for winter 2024/2024. By summer 2025, WestJet will also provide domestic connectivity to Virgin Atlantic’s newly announced route between Toronto-Pearson and London Heathrow.
And more importantly it looks like a frequent flyer partnership is in the works between WestJet Rewards and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
As part of the expanded relationship, WestJet Rewards and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club will be working towards a reciprocal frequent flyer partnership in 2025, further enhancing the cooperation between the two airlines, and providing unique benefits for customers of both airlines to earn points in the currency of their choice and redeem points on each carriers’ respective networks.
With full frequent reciprocity (at less earn and burn, no word on elite benefits) between the programs this will give WestJet Rewards member more options for using their WestJet dollars. On the other Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club is very niche program for Canadians, primarily for points and miles enthusiasts who have U.S. credit cards.
Here in Canada the primary conversion partner is Marriott Bonvoy whose points can be earned with the Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express®* Card or transferred from Membership Rewards to Marriott to Virgin with most other Amex cards. Those of us who still hold the Diners Club Mastercard can also convert Club Rewards points directly to Virgin Atlantic.
Click here to learn more about the news from Virgin Atlantic
Click here to learn more about the news from WestJet