2026 winter season VS network changes

[mitchja]

Extra flights/capacity to JNB & CPT.

DXB and SEA cancelled for the winter season.

From VS Trade:

VS Bulletin: Winter 2026 Network Update – 06 May 2026

Due to evolving customer demand, we’re making some changes to our winter 2026 flying programme.

We’re pleased to announce a significant increase in capacity to South Africa for the upcoming winter 2026 season, reinforcing our long-standing commitment to the market and meeting growing demand for both leisure and business travel.

From October 2026 through March 2027, we will operate up to 10 flights per week between London Heathrow and Johannesburg, alongside 11 weekly services into Cape Town. Our existing daily Johannesburg service will also operate daily on an A350-1000 for the winter season. The updated flight schedule enhances convenience for travellers, with earlier morning arrivals into South Africa allowing passengers to maximise their time on the ground, and later evening departures offering a more seamless overnight journey to London.

Unfortunately, we have taken the difficult decision to temporarily suspend our seasonal winter service to Dubai for the winter 2026 season, while services to Seattle will be temporarily suspended for the Winter 2026 season only, before resuming in March 2027. Customers can continue to travel to Seattle with our partner Delta Air Lines who will offer daily services from London Heathrow.

Our schedule and any affected bookings will be updated in the GDSs on Saturday 09 May 2026.

Pragmatic to forget about returning to DXB for now. Even if the current situation ends before the winter season begins, demand might not bounce back quickly and EK will likely flood the market with cheap fares. Better for VS to focus on other markets where demand is likely to be stronger.

Pragmatic to forget about returning to DXB for now. Even if the current situation ends before the winter season begins, demand might not bounce back quickly and EK will likely flood the market with cheap fares. Better for VS to focus on other markets where demand is likely to be stronger.

Agree about DXB - I was there last December & had planned to return the same sort of time this year, but that plan is firmly on hold now. VS did get a good feed from Virgin Holidays, but they were a once a day flight from LHR. As soon as you selected any other departure airport, even Virgin Holidays would generally book you on EK. It would not surprise me if the DXB route never returns for VS. A once a day flight cannot compete with EK, who will get you there from more regional airports to avoid the trek to LHR.