Virgin Atlantic to launch regional carrier

Airbus A320. Courtesy, Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic announced it will launch a regional carrier, Little Red, beginning March 31. The new carrier, which will use four Airbus A320s leased from Aer Lingus, will offer 26 daily flights between London Heathrow and Manchester, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Virgin Atlantic is taking over the routes as remedy slots that British Airways was forced to cede to maintain competition on UK domestic sectors after its parent company International Airlines Group took over bmi.