The last flight from Islamabad International Airport, VS379, to London Heathrow on Sunday marked the end of Virgin Atlantic’s operations in Pakistan.
With seven weekly flights, virgin Atlantic began operations at Islamabad Airport in December 2020. It began with four flights to Manchester and three flights to London Heathrow.
Later, the airline restricted itself to three weekly flights to London Heathrow.
In a press release issued in February, the airline stated that the decision to suspend operations in Pakistan was not taken lightly, and it apologized for any inconvenience caused to its customers while thanking their “customers, teams, partners, and the authorities for their support over the past two years.”
According to a Virgin Atlantic spokesman, the decision to withdraw was followed by an assessment of the Virgin Atlantic network to “ensure resources are used in the most optimal way to achieve operational resilience.”
“Following this review, we regretfully announce the suspension of our services between London Heathrow and Pakistan.” Since our inception in December 2020, we have been happy to provide options for consumers traveling between London and Manchester in the United Kingdom and Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan. During that crisis, we also provided critical cargo capacity and delivered critical medical supplies,” the statement continued.
The airline also stated that “any affected customers due to travel after these dates will be communicated with to share their options, which include rebooking (if applicable) or a full refund.”
Meanwhile, it advised consumers who had booked through agents or other third parties to contact them to discuss their choices.
