Virgin Atlantic Suspends Operations in Pakistan

British Airline Virgin Atlantic announced to suspend its operations in Pakistan on Sunday. The airline started operations in Pakistan in 2020 from Islamabad International Airport and was offering seven weekly flights initially. Later on, it was reduced to three flights per week to London’s Heathrow Airport.

Virgin Atlantic was flying between London, Lahore and Islamabad. According to a press release by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Virgin Atlantic was operating from Islamabad to Heathrow Airport, London at 8 am on Sunday.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said, “As we continue to ramp up our flying programme in 2023, we’ve taken the opportunity to review our entire network and decided to make a few changes.” He added, “Following this review, it is with regret that we’ve taken the difficult decision to suspend our services between London Heathrow and Pakistan. Since commencing operations in December 2020, we have been proud to offer choice for customers travelling between London and Manchester in the United Kingdom, and Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan. During that time, we have also provided important cargo capacity, as well as delivering vital medical supplies.” He further said, “This is not a decision we have taken lightly, and we’d like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. We would like to wholeheartedly thank everyone in Pakistan; our customers, teams, partners and the authorities for their support over the past two years.”