Given how small Virgin Atlantic’s fleet is, the airline has announced quite a few new destinations lately, ranging from Accra, to Riyadh, to Toronto. The airline has now revealed plans to add flights to yet another destination.
Virgin Atlantic adds London to Cancun flight
As of October 19, 2025, Virgin Atlantic will launch a new seasonal, 3x weekly flight between London Heathrow (LHR) and Cancun (CUN). The service will operate with the following schedule on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays:
VS93 London to Cancun departing 10:10AM arriving 4:15PM
VS93 Cancun to London departing 6:45PM arriving 9:05AM (+1 day)
The 4,948-mile flight will be blocked at 11hr5min westbound and 9hr20min eastbound. Virgin Atlantic will use one of its leisure configured Airbus A350-1000s for the route, featuring 396 seats. This includes 16 business class seats, 56 premium economy seats, and 325 economy seats. The new flight is expected to go on sale as of December 4, 2024.
This will be the only nonstop flight between London Heathrow and Cancun, though British Airways and TUI Airways operate a service between London Gatwick and Cancun. This will mark Virgin Atlantic’s return to Mexico. Here’s what Virgin Atlantic Chief Commercial Officer Juha Jarvinen had to say about this addition:
“We’re delighted to be returning to Cancun, offering customers a new destination for some winter sun. Cancun has an amazing nightlife and dining scene, dreamy sandy beaches, plus it’s the perfect gateway to Mayan ruins and adventure travel in the region. Our new route also offers increased connectivity to the region with our codseshare partner LATAM and SkyTeam partner Aeromexico. We can’t wait for more of our customers to enjoy Virgin Atlantic’s trademark fiesta and flair, on their way to Mexico.”
Vacation packages are also available for this service through Virgin Atlantic Holidays, with stays for seven nights, with prices starting at £1,799 per person.
This seems like a safe route addition
I love flying with Virgin Atlantic, but the airline no doubt has a challenging business model. It exclusively operates long haul flights and competes with British Airways in virtually all markets, which is a tough position to be in, given the feed that British Airways has.
Virgin Atlantic is 49% owned by Delta, so the carrier’s biggest focus has long been on the transatlantic joint venture with Delta and Air France-KLM. So while most of Virgin Atlantic’s network is between London and the United States, the airline has kind of struggled with figuring out what markets to pursue otherwise.
In that sense, flying to Cancun a few times per week in winter with a high density A350 seems pretty low risk. Yields don’t have to be high, and we know Brits are sun starved in winter, so filling the jet shouldn’t be an issue. I’m curious if the route comes back for a second season, or if Virgin Atlantic finds somewhere better to send the aircraft.
Bottom line
As of October 2025, Virgin Atlantic will launch a 3x weekly, seasonal flight, between London and Cancun with an Airbus A350. This marks the carrier’s return to Mexico, and it seems like a safe bet. Outside of flights between London and the United States, Virgin Atlantic has been struggling with what routes to add, so this seems like one of the more logical additions, even if it’s not terribly creative.
What do you make of Virgin Atlantic launching Cancun flights?
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