Islamabad: British Airline Virgin Atlantic ended its flight operations in Pakistan as its last flight from Islamabad International Airport. At the beginning of the year, the company announced that it would suspend its operations between London Heathrow, Lahore, and Islamabad.
A spokesperson from Civil Aviation Authority said in a press release that “a virgin Atlantic flight took off from Islamabad to London’s Heathrow Airport at 8 am on Sunday.
Virgin Atlantic started its operations in Pakistan in 2020 with seven weekly flights. Virgin Atlantic initially operated four flights from Manchester and three to London Heathrow. Later, the airline expanded its operations and started three weekly flights only to London Heathrow Airport.
In February, the company announced its decision to halt its operations in Pakistan and offered apologies for any inconvenience caused by the company to its customers. Moreover, the airline also thanked its customers, teams, partners, and authorities for their support over the last two years.
Virgin Atlantic provided its best services to its customers in London. People were happy with the airline and its services.
In an event, COO/Airport manager Sued Aftab Gilani thanked the Virgin Atlantic team for providing world-class air travel services.
In addition, he said that he hoped the Virgin Atlantic would start its operations in Pakistan again soon.
The airlines started their operations in Pakistan during the pandemic in 2020, from London to Islamabad and Lahore and Manchester to Islamabad. In addition, the company is hopeful to start its operations again in Pakistan in 2023.
As per the airline, they reviewed the whole flight network, decided to make some changes, and came again with advancements and facilities.
On the other hand, a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said, “As we continue to ramp up our flying program in 2023, we’ve taken the opportunity to review our entire network and decided to make a few changes.”
Moreover, he also said, “Following this review, regretfully, we’ve decided to suspend our services between London Heathrow and Pakistan. Since commencing operations in December 2020, we have been proud to offer a choice for customers traveling between London and Manchester in the United Kingdom and Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan”.
He added, “During that time, we have also provided important cargo capacity and delivered vital medical supplies.”
He added, “This is not a decision we have taken lightly, and we’d like to apologize for any inconvenience caused. We want to thank everyone in Pakistan wholeheartedly; our customers, teams, partners, and the authorities for their support over the past two years”.
He also spoke about the refund and said he “will communicate with any affected customers due to travel after these dates to share their options which include rebooking (if applicable) or a full refund.”
Furthermore, they have given leverage to their customers and said that the company is liable to pay the refunds and will settle the amounts for those who had made the bookings through third parties, or agents should contact them to discuss their options.
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