Virgin Atlantic is planning to launch flights between London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) and Seoul-Incheon International Airport (ICN). While this may seem like an odd addition for an airline that has been cutting service to Asia in recent years, there’s a clever reason behind this addition.
Virgin Atlantic’s New Flights Between London and Seoul Will Help Korean Air
Virgin Atlantic will launch daily flights between London-Heathrow and Seoul-Incheon beginning on March 29, 2026. Though the airline has been retreating in Asia, only offering service to a limited number of destinations, this route will benefit a partner and allow the airline to obtain more slots at the very constrained Heathrow Airport.
Late last year, Korean Air finalized its merger with fellow South Korean carrier Asiana Airlines. As the two carriers worked to integrate their operations, some concessions were needed by multiple countries affected by the merger.
One of those countries was the United Kingdom which feared that a merger would eliminate competition between South Korea and the UK, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines were the only two carriers operating the LHR-ICN route (Yet you couldn’t have British Airways fly it?).
In order to help get the merger approved, the UK and Korean Air came up with the following arrangement:
- Korean Air will make seven weekly slot pairs, one take off and landing, available to Virgin Atlantic.
- Virgin Atlantic can use the slot pairs to operate flights between London-Heathrow and Seoul.
To the naked eye, it appears that Korean Air basically gave these slots to Virgin Atlantic. Aside from the name on the plane, not much will change for Korean Air passengers that are flying to London.
Both airlines are part of the SkyTeam alliance and Delta likely pushed the deal in this direction considering it owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic. Delta also has a transpacific joint venture with the South Korean carrier, which makes this essentially a slot swap.
Virgin Atlantic’s London to Seoul Flights
Virgin Atlantic will use Boeing 787-9 aircraft on the flight between London and Seoul. Virgin’s 787-9s are outfitted with 258 seats, including 31 Business (Upper) Class seats, 35 Premium Economy seats, and 192 Economy seats.
Virgin Atlantic is expected to operate the route on the following schedule though, with the launch of revenue service over ten months away, these are highly likely to change.
| Route | Departs | Arrives |
|---|---|---|
| VS207 (LHR-ICN) | 10:55a | 7:15a (+1) |
| VS208 (ICN-LHR) | 9:10a | 3:40p |
To me, this seems like a very creative way for Korean Air to get its merger approved while keeping flying within the SkyTeam ecosystem. Virgin Atlantic will receive another, daily, slot pair which must be used on flights between London-Heathrow and Seoul-Incheon for the next three years. After that, the carrier is allowed to reallocate these slots as it deems fit.
Summary
Virgin Atlantic is launching flights between London and Seoul in 2026. Korean Air will be giving Virgin Atlantic one daily slot pair as part of a merger concession as it works to finalize its partnerships with many different airlines and airports as a result of its merger with Asiana.