When Virgin Atlantic joins Skyteam, the London clubhouse will not be open to everyone

Cold shower for all Elite Plus Skyteam members who have been waiting for nothing more than Virgin Atlantic's official entry into Skyteam. The company founded by Sir Richard Branson within a couple of months is expected to complete its entry into the Skyteam alliance, the same as ITA Airways and especially the same as Delta, Air France, and KLM.

No Clubhouse in London's T3

Flying Club Silver members will get the SkyTeam Elite level, Flying Club Gold status holders will instead get SkyTeam Elite Plus - with this membership you get, among other benefits, lounge access, a reciprocal benefit within the alliance.

However, rumors indicate that the Clubhouse at Heathrow Terminal 3, Probably one of the best 5 lounges in the world, will remain out of such an alliance-level agreement, with SkyTeam Elite Plus members likely to be redirected to another T3 lounge.

As of today, KLM and Air France are inviting their elite passengers. and business to take advantage of the Aspire Lounge, one of two lounges accessible with Priority Pass at T3 Heathrow. A lounge 1000 times worse than the Clubhouse. If these rumors are confirmed, the Clubhouse would remain, as today, for the exclusive use of Virgin and Delta business passengers in addition to the highest elite status holders in the Flying Club, in which case the best solution T3 is left with the Centurion Lounge.

However, it is unclear whether Skypriority passengers will have access to the reserved elevator in T3 and Virgin's exclusive fast track at the London airport.

New routes and connections

With a fleet consisting solely of wide-body aircraft and an exclusively long-haul network, Virgin will launch many new routes by summer and open up more connections to allow passengers bound for the U.S., Caribbean, and Asia to stop over in London.