Virgin Atlantic launches Delhi flights from Manchester Airport

Virgin Atlantic is launching a new route from Manchester to Delhi in October.  It will operate three times a week on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays using an A330-200 aircraft, returning Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Flights start on the 26th October:

VS318 departs Manchester at 16:40 and arrives in Delhi the next day at 06:05

VS319 is a day flight and departs Delhi at 08:10 and arrives at 12:10

Virgin has gradually been mopping up the spare capacity between the UK and India after the collapse of former partner Jet Airways last year, as we wrote about here.

The new route from Manchester will be the only direct flight between Manchester and India. Jet Airways flew between Manchester and Mumbai before it went bankrupt, so Virgin appears to be targetting a slightly different market.

The A330-200 that will operate this route are the former airberlin planes Virgin brought in to assist with the industrial problems on the Boeing 787-9. These do not feature the usual Upper Class seat but an adapted and refurbished airberlin seat (pictured below), which Rob reviewed pre-refurb here.

Flights will go on sale on Monday, 3rd of March and you will be able to book on the Virgin Atlantic website here.

PS. If you want to know about Avios redemption ideas from Manchester Airport, this HfP article looks at Avios flights from UK regional airports.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 50,000 Virgin Points.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points.