Re: B737 Type Rating.
Actually, Virgin does do base training on both the B744 and the A340, mainly because the landings requirement post-ZFT simulator training is bloody difficult to achieve on a longhaul operation. We don't always do it, and the 744, thanks to a number of 2-sector days in the programme, does it less than the A340, but we do bash the circuit from time to time, as observers at Shannon, Prestwick, Castle Donington, Brize Norton and Chateuroux will confirm.
Our hours requirement is simply down to the fact that a purely longhaul operation is no place to be learning your trade; you need to do that before you come to us.
Scroggs