Heathrow and Manchester Growth for Virgin
Virgin Atlantic is adding three new
long-haul services from Heathrow next
spring and plans to shift its Las Vegas
service from Gatwick to coincide with the
introduction of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
on the route, while also adding a second
daily ight to Boston.
The Airbus A330-300-operated
Boston connection will, Virgin said,
“make an additional 100,000 seats
available between the [US] East Coast
and the UK”. The third new service is the
reintroduction of the airline’s seasonal
link to Barbados.The airline’s chief commercial officer,
Shai Weiss, explained: “The new services
have been timed to offer convenient onward
connections for UK and US customers, and
feature our award-winning service, a three-
course meal and in- ight entertainment on
every ight.
“We’re also pleased to bring back our
popular seasonal service between London
Heathrow and Barbados to offer even more
choice for holidaymakers.”
The carrier has also announced more
ights from Manchester, cementing its
commitment to the northwest region.From 2019, the number of services there
is set to increase by up to 20% in what
will be the airline’s biggest-ever year ying
from the city, with there to be up to six
daily departures.
A new route to Los Angeles, coupled
with an increase in services to both
Boston and Las Vegas, will see Virgin
Atlantic offering customers up to 14,
seats a week directly from Manchester to
the USA and Caribbean. Several routes,
including New York and Atlanta, will be
own on the Boeing 747, the largest
aircraft in the eet.Aviation Artists Gather for 2018 Exhibition
The Guild of Aviation Artists is holding
its annual Aviation Paintings of the Year
exhibition at the Mall Galleries, The Mall,
London, from July 10 to 15.
The Guild’s principal aim is to promote
aviation art in all its forms and encourageinterest in the genre from artists and non-
artists alike. It plans to show more than
400 works from around 130 artists at this
year’s event, where subjects will include
historic aviation, modern military aircraft
and helicopters, plus commercial machines.This annual celebration is sponsored by
Aviation News’ sister magazine FlyPast
as well as several leading companies in
the aerospace industry. For more details
contact the Guild on 03331 302223 or
e-mail: [email protected]http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 9‘Coasting Out’ by Stephen Chard.‘Coasting Out’ by Stephen Chard. ‘Dusk Departure’ by Keith Woodcock.‘Dusk Departure’ by Keith Woodcock. ‘Transonic’ by Simon Catlin.‘Transonic’ by Simon Catlin.COMAC has successfully completed
crosswind testing of its ARJ21-700 regional
jet at Iceland’s Ke avík International Airport.
The Chinese rm says that, during a
programme of ights, the aircraft achieved
landings in sustained winds of more
than 35kts and gusts as high as 48.7kts.
Ke avík is a popular choice for such testing
due to the angle of its runway and local
high winds.
The tests were supported by UK-based
AJW Group, which formed a strategic
partnership with COMAC, and Iceland’s
airport authority, ISAVIA, to manage the ve-
week programme. More than 100 engineers,
meteorologists, pilots and support staff
travelled from China to Iceland, with AJW
co-ordinating the logistics, ight plan
approvals, test ight assessments, spares
and maintenance support.
The ARJ21 has been in service since
June 28, 2016 with Chengdu Airlines, and
the completion of the Iceland tests will now
enable COMAC to broaden the operating
parameters of the aircraft.COMAC’s ARJ21-700 regional jet has completed crosswind testing at Ke avík International.
AJW GroupSuccessful Tests for ARJ21 in Iceland
06-09_civil_newsDC.mfDC.mfDC.indd 9 08/06/2018 11: