The British airline, Virgin Atlantic, is ramping up its seating capacity for routes to Jamaica’s airports in response to growing demand for flights to the destination.

Jenny McGowan, vice-president of networking alliances for Virgin Atlantic, told Our Today that the growing demand was due to a combination of tourism and bookings from the Jamaican Diaspora in the United Kingdom.

She had hinted at this in her contributions to the panel discussion ‘Seats and Strategies’ during the JAPEX opening session on Monday, September 22, 2025.

“So back in 2024, we did have a daily operation to Jamaica… so we had two flights. The flight then went on to two further destinations. So, we had a tag that went into [Providenciales] Turks and Caicos and then a tag that went into Nassau in The Bahamas,” the Virgin Atlantic executive explained.

“What we found was that with those tags, therefore, Jamaica was sharing seats with those destinations and perhaps not getting the full access to all of the Seats that they may want. So we took the decision back in 2024 to reduce those tags, and what that resulted in is the ability to free up some capacity to increase our seat count to Jamaica,” McGowan continued.

She further pointed out that the Jamaican market has distinguished itself from other Caribbean destinations with its blend of passengers, hence the airline’s decision to increase seat counts for Jamaica.

“So yes, we have some really strong premium leisure demand, but we also have a really, really good VFR market in Jamaica. So a lot of visiting friends and [relatives]. There’s a huge diaspora of Jamaicans in the UK and they spend a lot of time here,” the VP reasoned.

McGowan further pointed out that the demand remains consistent right throughout the year as premium leisure brings resort destination traffic in the peak winter tourist season, while visiting friends and relatives sustains demand during the summer season.

Despite removing the Nassau and Providenciales tags, McGowan shared that Virgin Atlantic is taking a gamble on the Jamaican market as it continues to monitor bookings through its tour operator Virgin Atlantic Holidays. So far, for 2025, the carrier has recorded a double-digit uptick in bookings.

“And we have some really long booking curves from our Virgin Atlantic Holidays customers. They book sometimes 12 to 18 months in advance. The numbers that we’re seeing for stays through into 2026 is looking very similar to the trends that we’ve seen in the previous years,” McGowan informed Our Today.

“So we’re hopeful that so long as that continues, the demand supply ratio in Jamaica could be a positive one,” she added.

Creating an ideal passenger experience

The Virgin Atlantic vice-president pointed out that maintaining demand for its leisure tourism market segment requires ensuring a seamless passenger experience and quick turnaround time after arrival. She noted that travellers want to be at their final destination—villa, hotel or short-term rental and other accommodations—within an hour of arriving at the airport.

“Customers don’t want to spend a huge amount of time at the airport. They want to land, they want to get out, they want to get in the resort and really start enjoying their holiday. So anything that you could make the infrastructure more seamless to get passengers through that experience quickly is beneficial,” she noted.

In this regard, Virgin Atlantic engages in partnerships with tourism boards in the Caribbean, including the Jamaica Tourist Board. For post-arrival experiences, the airline and travel company also partner with hotels and attractions.

These partnerships, McGowan revealed, are part of its five- and ten-year strategies.