Virgin Atlantic
Join Date: Jul 2003
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Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
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
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
Last edited by ORAC; 5th May 2020 at 12:56.
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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.
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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.
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.
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.
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Youd 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
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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.
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.
Virgin Holidays don't operate their own flights per se, they sell seats onboard Virgin's scheduled services.
Its landing slots at Gatwick were to be retained, the company said, in case future demand allowed its operations to resume.
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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.
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.
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