One year ago today, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic aircraft simultaneously took off from London Heathrow Airport. The first-ever simultaneous takeoff occurred because the United States border opened for international travelers after more than 600 days of being closed.
BA0001 & VS3
On November 8, 2021, British Airways flight BA0001 and Virgin Atlantic flight VS3 took off simultaneously from London Heathrow on runways 27L and 27R.
The two aircraft were headed to New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. This was the first time two aircraft had simultaneously taken off from LHR.
Virgin Atlantic and British Airways used an Airbus A350-1000 for the flights to JFK. The two English airlines set aside their differences for the historic event.
“Transatlantic connectivity is vital for the UK’s economic recovery, which is why we’ve been calling for the safe reopening of the UK-US travel corridor for such a long time. We must now look forward with optimism, get trade and tourism back on track and allow friends and families to connect once again.” – Sean Doyle, British Airways Chairman and CEO
Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive Shai Weiss added to Doyle’s comment,
”Today is a time for celebration, not rivalry. Together with British Airways we are delighted to mark today’s important milestone, which finally allows consumers and businesses to book travel with confidence.”
Weiss also spoke on the significance of the American market for Virgin.
“The US has been our heartland for more than 37 years and we are simply not Virgin without the Atlantic. We’ve been steadily ramping up flying to destinations including Boston, New York, Orlando, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and we can’t wait to fly our customers safely to their favourite US cities to reconnect with loved ones and colleagues.”
The corridor between the London and New York is one of the busiest in the world, and before COVID, British Airways brought in $1 billion annually just from the LHR-JFK route. Every year, before the pandemic, almost 4 million British people traveled to the United States. The opening of the border, along with the parallel takeoff, were very significant moments in history.
November 2021 vs. November 2022
In November 2021, Virgin and British Airways operated 1,165 flights from the United Kingdom to the United States. That number has increased to 1,703 in November 2022, a 46.2% increase from last year.
New York City is by far the most-served American city this month by British Airways and Virgin. BA flies to NYC from London Heathrow and London Gatwick, with 190 flights and 30 flights, respectively. Virgin flies to JFK from both London Heathrow and Manchester and has a total of 151 flights, 30 from Manchester and 121 from London.
