Virgin Atlantic has ended its operations in Pakistan with the last flight carrier taking off from Islamabad to London’s Heathrow Airport on Sunday, July 9, 2023.
Virgin Atlantic began its operations at Islamabad airport in December 2020 with seven weekly flights. The airline initially operated four flights to Manchester and three to Heathrow Airport. Later the airline reduced its services to only three weekly flights to Heathrow Airport
“As we continue to ramp up our flying programme in 2023, we’ve taken the opportunity to review our entire network and decided to make a few changes,” a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said. “Since commencing operations in December 2020, we have been proud to offer choice for customers travelling between London and Manchester in the United Kingdom, and Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan. During that time, we have also provided important cargo capacity, as well as delivering vital medical supplies.”
He expressed regret for taking the "difficult decision" to suspend the services between London's Heathrow and Pakistan.
“This is not a decision we have taken lightly, and we’d like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. We would like to wholeheartedly thank everyone in Pakistan; our customers, teams, partners and the authorities for their support over the past two years,” the spokesperson added.