Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow) has joined the "Worldwide by easyJet" connecting platform, becoming the first legacy long-haul carrier focused on transatlantic services to partner with the European LCC.
The carriers will allow passengers to book connecting flights via London Gatwick, combining easyJet's short-haul service and Virgin's long-haul flights on a single itinerary.
"A large number of different airlines as well as airports have been asking to work with easyJet for some time and we expect to announce more partners in the coming months," CEO Johan Lundgren said.
According to the ch-aviation capacity module, easyJet currently offers 1263 weekly departures out of Gatwick to 100 destinations, while Virgin Atlantic operates 35 weekly flights to eight destinations in the United States, the Caribbean, and Mexico.
Norwegian (Oslo Gardermoen), WestJet (WS, Calgary), Thomas Cook Airlines UK (Manchester International), Corsair (Paris Orly), Neos Air (NO, Milan Malpensa), La Compagnie (B0, Paris Orly), Aurigny Air Services (GR, Guernsey), and Loganair (LM, Glasgow International) have already joined "Worldwide by easyJet". Singapore Airlines and its low-cost unit Scoot have recently signed a commitment to join the platform and allow connections via Milan Malpensa and Berlin Tegel.
easyJet, Virgin, Norwegian, Norwegian UK, and other members of the platform have a 61.1% combined market share at Gatwick by weekly capacity.
