Virgin Atlantic has announced it will be launching services to Delhi and Mumbai from Manchester.

Flying three times a week from Manchester to Mumbai beginning in December and twice weekly to Delhi starting in January, these new services will go on sale on tomorrow (20 October).

Fares to Mumbai will start from £473 with flights leaving Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The price to Dehli will be £480 per person with flights leaving Tuesdays and Saturdays.

In the summer Virgin Atlantic announced it would be launching three new, nonstop routes to Pakistan from December.

Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Atlantic said: “We’re delighted to launch new flying from our home in the north in Manchester. India boasts the largest foreign-born population in the UK and we’re anticipating that post Covid-19, the demand to travel home to visit loved ones will increase.

“Both Mumbai and Delhi are popular year-round destinations, and we look forward to welcoming travellers from the North and Midlands onboard as demand for leisure and business travel gradually increases to the region."

Andrew Cowan, MAG COO and Chair of Manchester India Partnership, said: “Securing direct services to two major Indian cities will unlock a wide range of benefits to the whole of the North. I am sure the routes will prove popular with the more than 500,000 people of Indian origin living across the region, while helping to further strengthen trade and cultural ties in both directions."