Virgin Atlantic to Withdraw from Narita-Heathrow Route

London, Sept. 3 (Jiji Press)--Virgin Atlantic Airways said Wednesday that it will end services on its route between Narita International Airport near Tokyo and London Heathrow Airport as part of a review of its flights. The final flight from Heathrow to Narita will depart on Jan. 31, 2015, and the final Heathrow-bound flight from Narita on Feb. 1, the British carrier said. Virgin Atlantic will also pull the plug on its route connecting Heathrow and Mumbai, India, in February 2015 and the Heathrow-Vancouver route in October this year. Instead, the airline will beef up its services linking Britain and the United States partly by setting up a new route between Heathrow and Detroit and increasing flights on the routes connecting Heathrow with New York and Los Angeles. Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive Craig Kreeger said in a statement, "Transatlantic flying has always been at the heart of our network and our most financially successful region." "Our ambition is to be profitable for the long term, earn competitive returns and invest those into providing the very best experience for our customers on the routes they most want to fly," Kreeger said. END