After announcing earlier in the year that it would suspend operations between London Heathrow, Lahore and Islamabad, Virgin Atlantic operated its final flight from Islamabad International Airport on Sunday.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, Virgin Atlantic’s flight from Islamabad to Heathrow Airport took off at 8am on Sunday.

With seven weekly flights, Virgin Atlantic began operating at Islamabad airport in December 2020. As of the beginning of the airline’s operation, Manchester and Heathrow airports were served by four flights each.

The airline later reduced its Heathrow flights to three a week, the spokesman said.

In the meantime, Virgin Atlantic provided the best air travel services between Islamabad and London to its customers.

Virgin Atlantic’s COO/Airport Manager Syed Aftab Gilani thanked the Virgin Atlantic team for providing world-class service.

It is his hope that Virgin Atlantic Airlines will return to Pakistan in the future.

Meanwhile, a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “As we ramp up our flying programme in 2023, we’ve reviewed our entire network and decided to make a few changes.”

With regret, we have decided to suspend our services between London Heathrow and Pakistan following this review. Since we began operations in December 2020, we have been able to offer customers a choice between London and Manchester in the United Kingdom, and Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan. During that time, we have also provided important cargo capacity, as well as delivering vital medical supplies,” the spokesperson said.

“This is not a decision we have taken lightly, and we’d like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. We would like to wholeheartedly thank everyone in Pakistan; our customers, teams, partners and the authorities for their support over the past two years,” he added.