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Virgin America Flies to Toronto, Mexico is Next

07.01.2010

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Really, it’s all fun and games for billionaire Richard Branson.

Two weeks ago, the Virgin Group founder announced Virgin Gaming, a joint venture with a small Canadian start-up to fire up the video game market by offering cash prizes, according to a post on The Times’ Company Town blog.

On Tuesday, Branson hopped on a Virgin America flight from San Francisco to Toronto, the first international destination to be added by the San Francisco-based airline. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom turned out to give Branson kudos for bringing more jobs to the state, according to media reports.

Flights to Canada, which began June 23, include one nonstop daily flight between Los Angeles (LAX) and Toronto’s Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and one daily through flight from LAX via San Francisco (SFO) to Toronto. The head of the Virgin empire also announced Virgin America’s plans to add Mexican destinations to its flight schedule later this year.

Airfares for the new route from Los Angeles start at $187 each way, based on a seven-day advance purchase. The introductory pricing is good for travel Tuesdays through Thursdays from July 6 to Nov. 17, but you must book by 11:59 p.m. PDT July 6.

Branson also announced that Virgin America filed Tuesday with the U.S. Department of Transportation to obtain Mexican routes between San Jose del Cabo and San Francisco, and between Cancún International Airport and San Francisco and Los Angeles.