Originally Posted by
roverman
I do hope we see some growth by VS to the USA and elsewhere. Prior to the pandemic they were operating seasonally to LAX and had announced service to Delhi. They were well-advanced with a plan to create a hub at MAN involving feed by FlyBe, but we all know what happened there. MAN is currently without domestic service to EDI or GLA, which would be an important source of feed to long-haul, however northern England and the midlands is a pretty large catchment in itself.
I'm not sure that argument of hubbing via MAN holds water. Edinburgh has flights with Delta, United, American, Air Canada & I think Westjet. Why would anyone want to connect with the sprawling disjointed airport of Manchester.? Any Virgin flights from MAN would have to be able to stand alone without any significant reliance on connections. The two main long haul destinations unserved from MAN remain Bangkok & Delhi, with the recession looming, I don't see any carrier having the appetite for major expansion (with Ryanair being the notable possible exception)