Originally Posted by
vectisman
Virgin expansion at Heathrow is somewhat limited by their finite number of slots. In fact they rarely expand at Heathrow, as in the past they have tended to drop a route when introducing a new one!
Funny how they used to manage to fill several 747s a day from Gatwick without all the connectivity they now talk about at Heathrow. I expect quite a few passengers did 'connect' in a way to their flights from Gatwick
using other carriers such as easyjet.
With an expanding fleet and limited potential at Heathrow I suspect Gatwick will have to be revisited sometime in the future.
Even with all this connectivity at Heathrow they still find it difficult to be profitable.
I remain hopeful that Cathay will return as they recover to pre-covid levels of capacity.
As for Westjet, dropping Toronto from Gatwick was not the best of moves. Air Transat have reaped the benefits there. The BA summer seasonal to Vancouver was also successful and is returning in 2024 with a longer season.
I think VS made a big mistake leaving LGW, as BA have since expanded, Norse, and JetBlue have entered etc. Slots at LGW will become more difficult to secure as the airport continues to recover and expand on its airline portfolio. The most obvious thing for VS to do would be to relocate their Caribbean and Orlando routes back to Gatwick if they'd want to expand - but again, slot restrictions at Gatwick may prevent this from happening. VS had mentioned when leaving LGW in May 2020 that they would be retaining their slots at Gatwick for a return in the future, but much has changed since then, and I'm not even sure VS have ownership of any slots at LGW anymore? I also agree with the comments RE. connectivity- VS maintained and managed a large base at LGW since its inception in 1984 right through to 2020 perfectly fine, specifically with their point-to-point leisure/beach flights, so unsure how excess connectivity at LHR is benefitting VS in practice on these holiday routes in terms of profit. Either way, they need to make a decision on Gatwick soon if they are serious about expanding again.
Regarding Cathay- I hope so
I miss seeing their A359 at the South Terminal. With the withdrawal of VS from HKG, and the fact that BA have reduced capacity to HKG than pre-covid, I would have thought that Cathay will seek to add additional London capacity going forward. LHR is full, and CX is unable to acquire additional slots there, so I reckon this will incentivise them to look at reopening LGW next year. I remember speaking with the CX ground teams in LGW about how well the route was doing, and they mentioned it had become one of the stronger, new "thinner" routes.