The plane was en route to Bridgetown when it was diverted to the UK capital after problems developed with “cabin pressure issue after transmitting code 7700 indicating general emergency”, it has emerged. In a tweet the airline said: “Our flight, the VS77 from Manchester to Barbados has returned to Heathrow due to an issue inflight.
“The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our priority and the Captain made the decision to return as a precautionary measure only.
“We would like to apologise to customers for the delay and any inconvenience caused, and we’re working hard to ensure that they can continue their journey as soon as possible.”
The airline – part of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group – was responding to a tweet from a member of the public.
They asked: “Why has flight VS77 been diverted back to the UK halfway through its journey? What happened?”
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Paul Charles, from travel consultancy The PC Agency, said bookings from Portugal, Italy and Greece had surged.
Speaking last month, Virgin Atlantic’s Juha Jarvinen said: “Flight bookings are up by more than 100 percent week-on-week, with bookings from New York to London increasing by nearly 250 percent.”
The news emerged shortly after it was reported that Sir Richard was set to float airline Virgin Atlantic on the London Stock Exchange imminently.
It would see the 71-year-old maverick entrepreneur relinquish overall control of the airline he founded in 1984 and would have been far more difficult before Brexit.
This is because, under EU rules, airlines must be majority-owned by shareholders from the EU.
Brexit has swept aside this needless bureaucracy, allowing the vocal Remainer to raise extra funds for the underfire airline.
News that Sir Richard is likely to benefit from Brexit flies in the face of many of his past comments.
Just days after the 2016 referendum, he warned that “thousands of jobs will be lost” because of the democratic vote.
And in 2019 he supported calls for a second referendum on the UK’s membership in the EU.
Speaking at the time he said: “The UK Government must now put all options on the table, and giving the people a final say must be one of these options.
“If it is not, there is only one alternative – a clear decision by Parliament to require the Government to revoke Article 50 and start the process again from scratch, armed with the facts.
“There is little time to avoid a multi-generational disaster.”
