Flights of fancy

Falling asleep in a fully flat bed with crisp sheets and a fluffy duvet, it’s hard to believe that you could be on board a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9. The airline is launching new routes to the Maldives and Turks and Caicos this autumn with all the luxuries you could wish for.

Flights to the Maldives will be running in the winter, three times a week from 22 October, while flights to Turks and Caicos will take off twice a week all year round from 04 November, both from London Heathrow.

Upper Class seats on board are cleverly designed like a home away from home. A glass of bubbly on arrival and a four-course menu rounded off with a cheese and port course make this like a hotel in the sky. Meals are even matched with a specially curated wine list courtesy of fine wine merchant Jeroboams.

This elevated experience starts in the Clubhouse at London Heathrow before you’ve even taken off. New relaxation areas have been designed for meditation or quiet time, providing space to recharge before the flight ahead. Or if powering up instead of down is on the agenda, you can work out on a Peloton bike before taking a shower to refresh.

Before you know it, runway views will be swapped with the beat of a boduberu drum or a cooling glass of rum punch. The only choice to be made is the destination. The Indian Ocean? How about feeling the crystal white sands beneath your feet in a sheltered lagoon in the Maldives with 1,000 coral islands at your fingertips?

Or passing the time in the Caribbean Sea, swimming along with dolphins, turtles and stingrays off the shores of Turks and Caicos? Decision, decisions.