VIRGIN Atlantic has decided to move its Barbados flights from Gatwick to London’s Heathrow, in the slots controversially sold by Air Jamaica, impeccable Observer sources said yesterday.

The decision which means that the highly prized slots have gone to a competing Caribbean destination, comes a week before Virgin, the United Kingdom’s second largest carrier, launches its new twice-a-week Gatwick to Kingston flights under the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Air Jamaica in May this year.

And in what is bound to be viewed as another blow to Jamaica, the UK airline is also likely to reduce the number of flights from London to Jamaica – from four to three – in the summer of 2008, the Observer sources revealed.

Travel industry experts also expect Jamaica’s loss situation to worsen, saying that Jamaica-bound passengers on flights connecting through Heathrow from continental Europe, would find it more stressful getting to the island and may just vacation elsewhere.

Virgin has apparently not yet made a formal announcement of the decision to move its Barbados flights to Heathrow, and efforts to get comments from the airline proved futile yesterday.

But travel industry sources in London said last night that Virgin had always wanted to move its flights from Gatwick to Bridgetown, the Barbados capital, which is a very popular destination among Britons, on grounds that it would enjoy a greater advantage out of Heathrow.

This week, the airline finally decided to move the flights beginning December 11, 2007 and until March 17, 2008.

At the same time, Virgin Atlantic is pressing ahead with its plans to launch its Gatwick-Kingston service on October 30, undaunted by signs that the new Jamaican government is frowning on the sell-off of the Heathrow slots.

Virgin’s director of communications, Paul Charles was quoted as saying it was in talks with Air Jamaica over their previously announced code-share agreement on Gatwick-Kingston, but that the service would start next week even without any conclusion.

“We want the code-share to proceed and talks are taking place, but at the moment the service will start on Tuesday with our code only,” Charles was reported as telling the online e-tid.com.

He said that the recent change of power in Jamaica was filtering down to the government-owned Air Jamaica.

“There is a new government in place which has been in opposition for (nearly) 20 years. It is trying to make its mark in a number of areas and is looking into our code-share arrangement,” said Charles.

Transport Minister Mike Henry said recently he wanted to renegotiate the agreement sealed under the stewardship of former Air Jamaica President Mike Conway.

But Charles was unconcerned by the reports, e-tid.com said. “We got the slots in the summer as agreed. It is a legally and commercially binding deal between the two airlines and the slot authorities.”

Charles suggested that while the code-share was not in place, Air Jamaica would be losing out on revenue and tourism would be affected. He added that it was “in Jamaica’s interest” for Virgin to operate Gatwick-Kingston in order to prevent British Airways having a monopoly on services from the UK to the island’s capital.

British Airways has operated from the UK to Jamaica for 60 years and has a loyal following of Jamaicans living in Britain.

It is widely known that BA was unhappy with the Air Jamaica-Virgin deal, believing that it should have been more favourably considered for the Heathrow slots regarded as “the jewel in the crown”.

Under the sale agreement, Virgin plans to operate two flights a week from Gatwick to Montego Bay and a similar number from Gatwick to Kingston, until next summer when its booking site suggested it would drop one flight to Kingston and operate a Gatwick-Kingston-Montego Bay flight among the three remaining ones.

The new services will double Virgin’s capacity between London and Jamaica to 190,000 seats a year and will make Kingston the airline’s 30th destination on its global network and its eighth Caribbean destination.

Flight VS69 will leave Gatwick on Tuesday and Saturday mornings, arriving around lunchtime each day in Kingston, while flight VS70 will depart Kingston on Tuesday and Saturday evenings, arriving into Gatwick on Wednesday and Sunday mornings.