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Airlines diversions and cancellations due to Middle East conflict
Since the conflict in Israel escalated at the weekend, airlines are rerouting around parts of the Middle East, adding extra flying time. With airlines also not flying over Russia, they are being squeezed into a narrow area. A number of airlines are re-routing flights between Europe and Asia, including Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, and Virgin Atlantic.
There are not many cancellations with most services continuing. However, there are now longer flight times to some destinations, including Australia, India, and other countries in Asia. If you are due to fly soon and have a short connection, it is worth checking the estimated flight times.
British Airways still has flights scheduled to operate to Tel Aviv on Wednesday this week at the moment with Virgin already suspending their service until September.
Virgin said: “We have been closely following events in the Middle East and have made the decision to temporarily avoid the airspace of Iraq, Iran and Israel, meaning some Virgin Atlantic passenger services between the UK and India will be adjusted.
“The safety and security of our customers and people is paramount and always will be. We will continue to monitor the situation and apologise for any inconvenience caused to customers by slightly longer flight times.”
Qantas has also had to add a stop on its Perth to London flight due to the extra time it takes to circumvent the affected area. The flight will still be non-stop from London to Perth, but on the return leg, the aircraft will now stop at Singapore to refuel. The original return flights have technically been cancelled and replaced by new flight numbers for the new route.
Virgin Atlantic’s new champagne on board
I went to a very interesting and enjoyable event last week helping to choose new wines for the season’s Upper Class options. It was also announced that they have started serving Laurent Perrier from 4 April in Upper Class. I am delighted by the news as this is my favourite champagne in this price bracket, so I look forward to drinking it on board.
They will also be serving English Sparkling wine Hambledon as the welcome drink in Upper Class. I am a fan of English sparkling wines, so it is great to see Virgin supporting them with this change. They will also be celebrating English wine week in June with both an exclusive white and a red wine from English vineyards.
Wines on Virgin Atlantic change every April and October with a group of Virgin staff and wine experts selecting from a list with their partners at Jeroboams wine merchants at a tasting. This time round, a group of journalists were also invited to help with the process. It was a tough assignment but we soldiered through. There was a really interesting range of wines, from Italian Soave to a Bordeaux red to a California Zinfandel.
I don’t know which ones have definitely made the pick but it was interesting to see the process of how wines are picked. We generally agreed on some of the favourites, so hopefully they made the cut!
Virgin try to have a balanced wine list with something familiar and then something that is a little more “trending” such as a Picpoul de Pinet. Virgin gets through 9-12 bottles of each wine per flight, with the most consumed on Las Vegas flights unsurprisingly. Being a smaller airline than one like BA means they have more flexibility in their choices since they don’t need to buy such huge volumes as someone like BA does.
Aer Lingus £100 off & more positive changes
Money off
Aer Lingus has launched an offer of £100 off return flights direct from Manchester to Orlando this Winter to celebrate the launch of extra services on the route this winter. The new flights will see Aer Lingus increase its Manchester to Orlando route up to four times per week during the peak winter period – an increase from the current three flights per week. The new fourth weekly flight will operate between between 18 December 2024 and 8 January 2025 – including a new service on Christmas Day.
You can get £100 off flights on the route when you book by 29th April 2024 and travel between 1st November 2024 to 15th March 2025. You can find the offer page here.
Positive changes
I am due to finally try Aer Lingus business class again next month after a rather unfortunate flight a few years ago. Flying with Aer Lingus now comes with BA Tier points and can be booked with Avios and a BA companion voucher as well.
Aer Lingus has just announced a new Business Class menu and expanded in-flight entertainment library, so it is perfect timing for my flight.
Aer Lingus refreshes seasonal menus every three months and on the new Business Class menu, customers will be served dishes such as skin-on thyme and parsley chicken supreme, herb-infused roasted pork, pan-fried hake and citrus-marinated salmon. There is a vegetarian option of a root vegetable and pearl barley stew, served with a seasonal salad.
Other highlights include Irish smoked salmon, saffron-poached prawns, and a roast parsnip and seasonal apple soup to start. All of those sound pretty good to me!
Aer Lingus has also revamped its dessert menu, with a choice of lemon cream mousse or a local cheese board. All dishes are focused on seasonal, sustainably sourced, local produce.
TAer Lingus has also expanded its in-flight entertainment library by more than a third for a wider choice of films and shows.
Susanne Carberry, Aer Lingus Chief Customer Officer said: “At Aer Lingus, we value feedback and constantly review our food and entertainment offerings to ensure we meet the needs of our customers.
“Based on this feedback, I am pleased to say that we’ve upgraded the quality and range of food onboard for both Economy and Business Class customers and have increased the amount of in-flight entertainment content by more than one third.
“Along with enjoying enhanced in-flight dining and entertainment, holidaymakers can also expect a warm and friendly welcome on board all Aer Lingus flights and a generous baggage allowance when flying long-haul.”
