Virgin Atlantic has updated its schedules from Manchester Airport (MAN), adding capacity on routes that Aer Lingus had exited following its decision to close its – profitable – base at the airport.
Cirium’s Diio Mi latest data showed that with the latest weekly schedule update, Virgin Atlantic added additional flights from MAN to Barbados Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI), New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), and Orlando International Airport (MCO) in January 2027, with airlines beginning to file their schedules for beyond 2026.
Additional MAN to BGI, JFK, and MCO flights
The latest schedules indicated that in January 2027, Virgin Atlantic will offer two additional frequencies from MAN to BGI, while weekly departures to JFK will go from three in January 2026 to eight in 2027.
To MCO, Virgin Atlantic will operate four additional weekly flights during the first month of 2027, while also adding another seven weekly departures to MCO in August 2026. Between April and December, Virgin Atlantic’s MAN-MCO frequencies will range from daily to double-daily in July and 19 weekly in August, per Cirium’s Diio Mi.
Notably, Aer Lingus has not operated any MAN-MCO flights specifically during the month of January in 2024, 2025, and 2026. It still has scheduled thrice-weekly services on the route this month.
All three routes were operated by Aer Lingus before it decided to permanently shutter its MAN base after it had already suspended all long-haul bookings from the airport in Northern England.
According to Cirium’s Diio Mi, during the winter 2026/2027 season, with the latest data including flights up to January 2027, TUI will also offer five weekly departures from MAN to BGI, which is one additional weekly frequency compared to the same month in 2026.
Aer Lingus had three weekly flights to BGI in January 2026, also offering daily departures to JFK during the month. The Irish carrier’s MAN-MCO frequencies were daily between June and September 2025, going down to five weekly in October, and thrice weekly between December 2025 and March 2026.
Leaving Manchester
The Irish carrier confirmed its decision to close the MAN base on January 28, apologizing to its customers for any potential disruptions.
“We understand that this is disappointing news and apologise for the disruption to our customers.”
Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that with its own latest schedule update, Aer Lingus added seasonal flights from Dublin Airport (DUB) to BGI. Unlike MAN-BGI, which was operated with an Airbus A330-300, DUB-BGI will be flown with an A321XLR, which will be quite the trek with a filed block time of nine hours and 10 minutes.
Aer Lingus stated that the DUB-BGI service will “reaccommodate affected customers,” who were booked to fly to BGI from MAN.
The Irish airline previously said that the issue was not the base’s profitability, since it was, but rather the profit margin at MAN. Sharon Graham, the General Secretary of Unite, the union that represented Aer Lingus’ flight attendants based at the airport, slammed the airline for its decision, describing it as “economic vandalism.”
Rytis Beresnevicius
In it for the long haul
A few days after Aer Lingus confirmed its decision to close its base at the airport, Virgin Atlantic issued a statement, which read that it is “boosting its long-haul flying from Manchester this summer,” which includes additional flights to MCO. During the winter season, it will upgauge its MAN-MCO services to the A350-1000, resulting in a capacity increase of 17%.
According to Virgin Atlantic, its long-haul flights from MAN “support both leisure and business travel and enhance connections for customers in the North, by offering the opportunity to connect onwards to key US destinations and beyond, with partners including Delta Air Lines, IndiGo and SkyTeam [airlines].”
In addition, the British carrier said that it is welcoming ex-Aer Lingus pilots, who were employed in the United Kingdom, to its roster, “helping to retain highly skilled aviation roles in the region.”
Dave Geer, the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Virgin Atlantic, reaffirmed that with MAN having been its home in the UK’s north-west for 30 years, the airline is “in it for the long haul” at the airport.
