The only direct flight between London Heathrow and Barbados will take off this year
Virgin Atlantic has announced it will launch the only direct flight between London Heathrow and Barbados later this year.
The twice weekly service, operating on Tuesdays and Saturdays, will start from 12 December 2017 to tempt those eyeing up Christmas in the Caribbean. Flights go on sale from this Saturday 25 February.
The airline's codeshare with Flybe means regions including Scotland will also have access to connections to Barbados.
Read more: Check before you fly: Gatwick's airlines swap terminals next week
It will be the sixth new service to be launched by the airline in 2017, with flights to Seattle, Varadero in Cuba, Boston, New York and San Francisco launching in spring this year.
And in total, Virgin Atlantic will offer up to 11 Barbados flights per week from three UK airports – Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester.
Read more: Here's how Manchester Airport plans to close the gap on Heathrow
Shai Wess, chief commercial officer at Virgin Atlantic, said: "The Caribbean has always been a core market for Virgin Atlantic and so we're excited to announce we're offering more choice to our customers with the option of flying from Heathrow, Gatwick or Mancester direct to Barbados.
New Virgin Atlantic services in 2017:
26 March: London Heathrow – Seattle
28 March: Manchester – San Francisco
29 March: Manchester – Boston
2 April: London Gatwick – Varadero
25 May: Manchester – New York
12 December: London Heathrow – Barbados
Airlines have been announcing a flurry of new routes for the year ahead. Last month, British Airways announced it was launching seven new routes from Manchester Airport and three new destinations from Stansted, while Ryanair added nine new London Stansted routes.
The low-cost carrier said it was planning for "prudent" UK growth with Brexit on the horizon. Ryanair's chief commercial officer David O'Brien said the new routes will allow people to move "from the hot air to the hot weather as we escape the misery of all this Brexit talk and doom and gloom".