Islamabad, 10 July, 2023 (GNP): Virgin Atlantic ran its last commercial flight on Sunday from Islamabad International Airport after announcing earlier this year that it will discontinue flight operations between London Heathrow, Islamabad, and Lahore.
A spokesman of the Civil Aviation Authority stated in a press release that Virgin Atlantic took off its final flight from Islamabad to London’s Heathrow Airport at 8 am on Sunday.
However, the airline commenced its flight operations at Islamabad Airport in December 2020 with seven flights a week.
Moreover, it initiated with four flights to Manchester and three to Heathrow Airport but after some time Virgin Atlantic minimized its operation to only three flights a week to Heathrow Airport, the spokesman added.
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Meanwhile, the airline offered excellent quality air carrier services to its passengers between Islamabad and London.
The Islamabad International Airport’s Manager Syed Aftab Gilani expressed gratitude to the Virgin Atlantic team for providing world-class air travel services at its finale.
“I hope Virgin Atlantic Airlines will return to Pakistan in the future,” he said.
On the other hand, one of the team members of Virgin Atlantic said, “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.”
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“Following this review, it is with regret that we’ve taken the difficult decision to suspend our services between London Heathrow and Pakistan. Since commencing operations in December 2020, we have been proud to offer a choice for customers traveling between London and Manchester in the United Kingdom, and Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan, we have also provided important cargo capacity, as well as delivering vital medical supplies,” the spokesperson said.
“This is not a decision we have taken lightly, and we’d like to apologize 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,” he added.
