Virgin Atlantic to launch first-ever flights to trending Asian city
VIRGIN Atlantic is launching a brand new flight route from the UK next year – to a trending holiday destination.
From March 29, 2026, the airline will operate daily flights to Seoul in South Korea.
The expansion to the Asian country will also allow connecting routes to places such as Japan, Vietnam and China.
The airline said: “Whilst the route will attract important corporate travel as well as visiting friends and relatives, the new service is expected to attract a predominantly leisure customer.
“[This is] driven by the foody culture, amazing shopping and also the “Korean Wave”, which refers to the increasing worldwide popularity of South Korea’s pop culture encompassing music (K-pop), TV and films.
“Easy connections to Japan will attract tourists looking to explore exciting Tokyo, Kyoto temples close to Osaka, mud baths in Fukuoka, the beaches of Okinawa and the world-renowned powder snow in Hokkaido.”
The overnight London Heathrow-Seoul flights will take off at 9:45am, landing at 6:05am the following day.
The return flight will take off at 8:35am and land at 3:05pm the same day.
Flight prices are yet to be revealed but will go on sale next month on May 14.
Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer commented: “Virgin Atlantic has long been known as the carrier of choice across the Atlantic and transatlantic travel remains core to our business.
“We are incredibly excited to expand our network in the east with the announcement of new services to Seoul starting in March 2026.”
Virgin has also launched new flights to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, as well as five flights a day to India as it celebrates 25 years flying there.
South Korea has boomed in popularity in recent years, particularly with K-beauty and K-pop.
Last year, more than 16million international tourists visited South Korea, which is nearly the same as pre-pandemic.
At this year’s Coachella, Korean artists Lisa and Jennie performed, while Boots launched a new K-Beauty box last month.
And Tripadvisor named Seoul as one of the top trending 2025 destinations, as well as the no.1 destination for solo travel.
Make sure to check out the theme parks too – Lotte World is one of the world’s largest indoor theme parks while Everworld is dubbed ‘Korea’s Disneyland’.
Brits can currently fly to South Korea from the UK with Korean Air.
What is it like to visit South Korea?
The Sun’s Deputy Travel Editor Kara Godfrey recently visited the country.
Last year, Intrepid launched it’s brand new 18-35 range of trips, including a nine-day Essential South Korea excursion and I was one of the first to be on it, exploring Seoul, Busan and Jeonju.
Start early and visit Gyeongbokgung Palace – we were there by 9am in time for the 10am changing of the guard performance, a 20-minute event that recreates the original ceremony.
We spent days exploring the different districts such as Hongdae – the university district – or Seongsu-dong, dubbed the Brooklyn of Korea thanks to its trendy bars.
And a visit to Korea is nothing without a K-pop dance class, where we danced to New Jeans at Frzm Studio, before partying into the early morning at a karaoke booth, also known as noraebang.
A few hours south of the capital, Jeonju is known for it’s traditional ‘hanok’ houses with more than 800 in the city.
And in the south of South Korea – around three hours by train – is Busan, home to Gamcheon Culture Village, dubbed the Machu Picchu of Korea due to the many multicoloured, photogenic houses lining the cliff side.
Visiting in the summer? Make sure to check out the beach at Haeundae, with the best views found on floor 100 at Busan X the Sky, the second tallest building in Korea.
The airline – which was named the World’s Best Airline by Skytrax this year – has direct daily flights.
And Brits don’t even need a visa to currently visit, with the usual K-ETA scrapped until the end of the year.
The best months to travel are in April and May for their cherry blossom seasons, or in September to October to avoid the humid summer months.
It’s not the only Asian destination getting more UK flights.
Singapore Airlines launched daily flights from London Gatwick to Singapore last month, up from five flights a week.
Norse Airways will fly new routes from London Gatwick to Bangkok.
And British Airways has relaunched flights from London to both Bangkok and Kuala Lumpar.