( Travel Gossip) ….Virgin Atlantic is dropping flights to the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos early next year.
Instead, it will put on additional flights to Antigua, Barbados and Cape Town in South Africa.
Flights from London Heathrow to Bahamas will stop on 23 February and services to Turks and Caicos from Heathrow will end two days earlier on 21 February.
Customers with existing bookings are being contacted to be offered refunds or alternative flights with another airline, it said.
A Virgin spokesperson added: “As we continue to focus on optimising our network, we regularly review the destinations we fly to.
“As part of this, we’ve made the decision to increase our frequencies to Antigua, Barbados and Cape Town next year, and to sadly suspend operations to The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos.
“We’re very sorry for the disappointment caused to our customers flying to The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos and anyone booked to travel on these routes from February 24 and February 22 respectively will be contacted with their options.”Virgin flies three times a week to the Bahamas and twice weekly to Turks and Caicos. It will increase its service to Antigua from once a week to four flights a week from 28 October 2024 until the end of April and its Barbados service will increase from seven to 10 flights a week, also from 28 October.
At the same time, Virgin will extend its seasonal service to Cape Town by a month, to 30 April.