British airline, Virgin Atlantic, has been operating regular cargo-only services to Brussels over the last couple of months as part of its new cargo-only European network, developed to take advantage of the increase in demand for air freight as passenger demand reaches all-time low.
It’s well-understood that Virgin Atlantic will eventually leave Brussels. Such is inevitable. However, it seems that might not happen just yet, as the airline today announced its November flying schedule which shows frequencies to Brussels continue to increase.
With passenger flights slowly returning to the skies, Virgin Atlantic’s Boeing 787s and Airbus A350s used on flights to Brussels and across Europe will likely be redeployed back onto the airline’s long-haul network eventually.
Virgin Atlantic Cargo on Thursday unveiled its November flying schedule which detailed an increase in services to Brussels. The carrier is adding a fifth weekly rotation from November, meaning Brussels will receive daily Virgin Atlantic connections from London Heathrow between Wednesday and Sunday inclusive.
Virgin Atlantic’s cargo-only flights to Brussels began on 6 June, initially operating with a Boeing 787-9 on the London Heathrow-New York JFK-Brussels-London Heathrow sector twice a week. A month later, the New York-Brussels sector was suspended and the operation to the Belgian capital was reverted to a direct London-Brussels flight, operating three times a week.
In August, the airline announced it would be moving its London Heathrow-Brussels service up to four weekly frequencies, adding a late-afternoon/evening rotation on Sundays. This has been maintained since.
The Boeing 787 was joined by the Airbus A350 on 2 September when Virgin Atlantic inaugurated A350-1000 operations on the Brussels sector. The flight was operated by G-VLUX.
In other news, on 15 October, Virgin Atlantic celebrated its fastest ever turnaround speed at just 51 minutes. The new recorded, which stood at 51 minutes, was broken during a Brussels rotation. VS505 landed at Brussels at 19:00 and departed at 19:51.
The question remains, however: how long left till Virgin Atlantic’s focus shifts back to long-haul, passenger flights and with that, the removal of Brussels from the network? Only time will tell. With the return of long-haul passenger travel demand projected to recover slower, perhaps Virgin Atlantic’s time at Brussels is prolonged.
