Virgin Atlantic

[Sharklet_321]

Virgin is no longer the underdog it once was... Norwegian has taken that position I think.

[MAN777]

Up for sale

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/n...or-sale-report

[ORAC]

Virgin Atlantic to cease operations out of Gatwick and cut one third of staff, 3150 in total.

Gatwick slots to be retained pending the future. At least some of 747 fleet to be retired.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavir...vival-11983452

[wesleyscott]

be interesting to see what they do with Virgin Holidays.

[PDXCWL45]

Originally Posted by wesleyscott

be interesting to see what they do with Virgin Holidays.

I'd imagine just operate their flights from Heathrow.

[TOM100]

Move the profitable flights to LHR and customers to take up the slack from other reduced frequencies.........

[sportzbar]

It's been reported elsewhere that the 747s won't fly again, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays are to merge into one company and there will be 3000+ cuts across the company in all areas.

[116d]

Thoughts are with all the staff potentially affected by here. The end of LGW ops would be the end of an era given VS have had a presence there from day one and ditto with EWR when that was scrapped recently.

Originally Posted by wesleyscott

be interesting to see what they do with Virgin Holidays.

I reckon Virgin Holidays will continue providing the airline continues. They've been in growth mode in recent years opening shops all over the place, as well as being one of the largest tour operators in the UK for long-haul.

[AirportPlanner1]

You’d have to assume there are more than enough slots available in the next 2-3 years for the entire LGW operation to be moved across without slashing any of it. Reduced frequency on existing VS + DL services and probably a few across the wider Skyteam portfolio

[harer92]

What was the fleet breakdown at LGW?

[BRISTOLRE]

Originally Posted by harer92

What was the fleet breakdown at LGW?

The fleet at LGW all tended to move around a lot between there and MAN/BFS/GLA etc, principally leisure destinations so the 747-400s and ex AirBerlin A330s (VMIK/VNLM/VWND etc) and at least two of the LHR RR powered based A330s would rotate in & out of here as well on the likes of Antigua & Barbados routes. Only a few odd and limited instances did we see any of the LHR based 787s or A346s in at LGW.

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

Originally Posted by Skipness One Foxtrot

Brian, retrenching to LHR means operating the Beach Fleet from there. LGW was 3-5 flights per day in summer and with traffic collapsing, they could operate the portfolio from LHR and move back to LGW if and when traffic bounces back that they really need the slots. It doesn’t mean closing all LGW routes, it means serving London from one airport.

Sad to hear about LGW but it was the only sensible option IMHO. If the bubble has burst for a while, then LHR makse way more sense. One base, making the most of existing ClubHouse facilities working closely with Delta as a strong partner.
Virgin Holidays don't operate their own flights per se, they sell seats onboard Virgin's scheduled services.

[zfw]

5 of the B747s now at MAN, GVAST arrived last Friday, and GVROS about 2 hours ago.

[SWBKCB]

Its landing slots at Gatwick were to be retained, the company said, in case future demand allowed its operations to resume.

So how does that work if they aren't flying from Gatwick?

[JobsaGoodun]

They could lease out their slots to another operator in the short term, either at a charge or for free if they simply want to keep hold of them.
That said, if BA, DY and VS were all seeking to do this, it remains to be seen what appetite and how successful it might prove.

[pholling]

Originally Posted by SWBKCB

So how does that work if they aren't flying from Gatwick?

As long as the 80% rules remains suspended they don't have to do anything. However, my guess is that they are using the slots as a sweetener for whomever may be interested purchasing/purchasing a stake in VS.

[Sharklet_321]

Nobody seems to be mentioning Manchester, what does this mean for them?

[PDXCWL45]

Originally Posted by Sharklet_321

Nobody seems to be mentioning Manchester, what does this mean for them?

Probably extra aircraft available to expand there a bit. I read elsewhere that they were going to be getting an extra A333 for S21.

[FFHKG]

Two route announcements re India and LA flights from MAN were posted on Routes yesterday.....India going year-round

[TOM100]

They have stated they will concentrate on LHR/MAN