Above: Tobago (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Virgin Atlantic is set to launch service from London Gatwick Airport to the Caribbean island of Tobago.

The service will launch beginning in March, and will operate as an additional sector between the carrier’s nonstop St Lucia service.

That means a short stop in St Lucia before the flight continues to Tobago.

The flight will operate weekly on Sunday mornings between March and October, and on Tuesdays and Saturdays beginning in October.

In a statement, Virgin said the addition of the flight came in response to “an opening in the market.”

“The Caribbean has long been at the heart of our leisure operation and we’re really excited to be offering our customers flights to beautiful Tobago once again,” said Joe Thompson, director of network and alliances at Virgin Atlantic. “We are always looking for opportunities to grow our network and provide our customers with even more travel options and with other operators withdrawing from this route, we believe our new services will be very popular with British holidaymakers.”

The flights will operate on Airbus A330-300 aircraft with 33 upper class, 48 premium economy and 185 economy seats.

Virgin Atlantic currently operates 23 peak return flights a week across the Caribbean.