To provide greater flexibility for customers with upcoming travel plans, Virgin Atlantic has introduced a new policy to waive the flight date change fee for tickets issued in March. The decision comes as aviation demand falls following the global spread of the coronavirus.

The relaxation of commercial policy is available to customers that have a ticket originally purchased between today and 31 March, for travel up to and including 30 September. Tickets can be reissued up until the day before departure.

The policy applies to all routes in the airline’s international network, including services from London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Glasgow and Belfast airports. Tickets booked on Virgin Atlantic codeshare flights on transatlantic routes with its expanded joint venture partners Delta, Air France and KLM are also included.

Juha Jarvinen, chief commercial officer of Virgin Atlantic said: “We understand that with evolving travel advice, some of our customers may wish to build in some flexibility to upcoming travel plans.”