Virgin Atlantic and joint venture partner Delta Air Lines have returned to their “home turf” and resumed operations at Heathrow Terminal 3. 

The terminal has been closed for a total of 450 days due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with Virgin and Delta temporarily moving operations to Terminal 2. 

Today (July 15), Virgin Atlantic reopened its Clubhouse, Revivals lounge and Upper Class Wing and was operating a total of 11 customer flights to destinations including Antigua, New York and Tel Aviv.

The airline’s chief customer and operating officer, Corneel Koster, labelled it a “great day” for both customers and staff, many of whom have been on the government’s furlough scheme for over a year. 

He told Aspire: “[Returning to Terminal 3] means so much to us. This is the only place where we can offer our full end-to-end experience and show the world what Virgin Atlantic has to offer, which is what our customers love and have missed. 

“It also means a lot to us that we can reactivate more of our teams and bring them back to work. Our airport teams have been doing their best to offer great experiences in Terminal 2 and our pilots and cabin crew are working increased hours every week. But our Clubhouse and Revivals teams have not worked at all throughout the pandemic because the facilities were completely lost, so they've been raring to come back.

“It's a great day for our customers, our people and all of us at Virgin Atlantic.”

Koster described the impact of the pandemic as “devastating” and spoke of the “heartbreaking and difficult” decision to axe nearly a third of its workforce in a bid to “survive”.

But he said the challenge of innovating during a pandemic and the opportunity to “reinvent” the brand had been “strangely exciting”, adding: “We’re improving ourselves and we're going to get to the next level after the pandemic.

“Our people have been phenomenal and so adaptive to change, always passionately stepping up to the plate. 

“At the same time, we're asset lighter as a business. We used to have two big buildings and it's now one. We phased out our four-engine aircraft so overnight we became 10% more sustainable from a carbon and efficiency perspective. 

“These kind of things have been on an accelerated path through the pandemic and it puts us in great stead for a very promising future.”

Virgin Atlantic has also made a number of changes to its premium lounge, Clubhouse, reducing furniture to enable social distancing and temporarily closing the spa.

In its place, the carrier has added a new fitness station with three Peloton bikes and will introduce a pop-up wellness area shortly.

A new QR code has also been added to tables, encouraging guests to “scan for champagne” or any other service, including shower and bike slots. 

Koster said the airline had seen a rise in customers upscaling their holidays in the wake of the pandemic.

“We’re certainly seeing people treating themselves,” he said. “People are taking an extra star or two on their packages or on their hotels. We’re seeing people booking our Economy Delight, which has extra legroom and flexibility, as well as customers upgrading into our Premium and Upper Class cabins. 

“We have always been an airline that has had a good premium leisure exposure but we're now seeing people splurging and wanting to have a fantastic holiday with Virgin Atlantic.”