Virgin Atlantic has quietly added its two longest-ever nonstop routes to the map, both out of London Heathrow — and one of them is a beach flight that could change how Brits reach Thailand.
The first new route is Seoul Incheon, which launched on March 29 with a daily Boeing 787-9 service. This one has an interesting backstory: it only exists because of the Korean Air–Asiana merger. Regulators in the UK worried that, once the two Korean carriers combined, there'd be zero competition on the London–Seoul route — British Airways had already pulled out during the pandemic in 2020. So Korean Air and Asiana gave up slots to make room for Virgin, on the condition the airline serves Incheon for at least three years. Since Virgin and Korean Air are both SkyTeam members and codeshare on the route, it's cosy competition at best, but travellers still get three daily nonstops to choose from across Asiana, Korean Air and Virgin.
At up to 14 hours 30 minutes on the return leg — flights now have to skirt Russian airspace — Seoul has become Virgin's longest nonstop. Phuket, starting October 18, is second at up to 13 hours 40 minutes back to London.
The Phuket route is the more interesting one for holidaymakers. Virgin will fly three times a week through the winter season, timed for the Northern Hemisphere winter schedule. Roughly 253,000 round-trip passengers flew London to Phuket in the past year, and almost all of them connected through Gulf hubs — Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways alone fly up to 12 times daily to Phuket from their home bases. A nonstop option removes the layover entirely and, on paper at least, adds price pressure on the Gulf carriers. It's also only the second time Heathrow has had a direct Phuket service; Thai Airways ran it during the pandemic in 2021/2022. TUI and Norse Atlantic already serve Phuket from Gatwick, with Norse starting December 4, so direct flights from London are growing across the board.
Virgin is using the 258-seat 787-9 on Phuket, with a smaller business class cabin than on its premium-heavy routes — a sensible fit for a leisure market. Flies Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays out of Heathrow, returning Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Why it matters: if you're planning a Thai beach winter and dread a five-hour Gulf layover, you now have a realistic nonstop from Heathrow. Seoul, meanwhile, is worth considering as a destination in its own right or a springboard into South Korea, and the three-year regulatory commitment means the route isn't going anywhere fast. Note that Virgin's overall Heathrow long-haul activity has actually dipped 3% year-over-year, so these two additions stand out against some route cuts.
