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Old 19th May 2003 | 06:53
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babydoc
 
Joined: May 2002
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From: over here
Correct

From Sky News

VIRGIN DROPS PARIS PLANS

Virgin Express has dropped plans to set up an extra hub in Paris.

The budget airline says it was not given get enough slots to make it profitable.


"Paris will not happen," Yves Panneels, spokesman for the Brussels-based airline, said.

Virgin, nearly 60%-owned by British entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin empire, had received 5,840 slots at Orly airport, enough for three routes.

Unprofitable

Two of those routes - Toulon and Bordeaux - would not be profitable, Virgin said. The third route was to Rome.

"The usage of the fleet would have been too low if you look at the whole picture," Panneels said.

Virgin Express had requested 15,000 slots from Cohor, the slot coordinator in charge of distributing slots previously held by defunct French airline Air Lib.

Increasing competition

British rival EasyJet got 7,300 slots.

In September, Virgin dropped plans to set up a second hub at German Cologne-Bonn airport, shying away from an expected price war with German rivals.

Competition among European airlines has become fierce as discount airlines undercut major carriers.
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