Virgin Atlantic-2
Paxing All Over The World
Both their phone and Chat systems announce they are prioritising those who are travelling within the next two weeks. Clearly done to dissuade you phoning.
Join Date: Dec 2015
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What's next for Virgin at Heathrow? With services resuming to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Cape Town and with the addition of Tampa, what other routes would be viable for them to operate here? Heathrow seems to be their focus after they up and left Gatwick during the pandemic.
Would also be good to see them grow their presence at Manchester to operate some more American routes and maybe even a Far East route or two.
Would also be good to see them grow their presence at Manchester to operate some more American routes and maybe even a Far East route or two.
Join Date: Jan 2008
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Further route development at Heathrow will be limited by the size of their slot portfolio. That is why over the longer term I can see a return to Gatwick for some leisure heavy services if they
wish to increase the variety of more business focused routes at LHR. In my opinion they would be unwise to leave it too long with BA and Norse particularly expanding their long-haul presence at LGW after the pandemic.
wish to increase the variety of more business focused routes at LHR. In my opinion they would be unwise to leave it too long with BA and Norse particularly expanding their long-haul presence at LGW after the pandemic.
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Further route development at Heathrow will be limited by the size of their slot portfolio. That is why over the longer term I can see a return to Gatwick for some leisure heavy services if they
wish to increase the variety of more business focused routes at LHR. In my opinion they would be unwise to leave it too long with BA and Norse particularly expanding their long-haul presence at LGW after the pandemic.
wish to increase the variety of more business focused routes at LHR. In my opinion they would be unwise to leave it too long with BA and Norse particularly expanding their long-haul presence at LGW after the pandemic.
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I'm glad to see Virgin sticking with the Orlando route from Heathrow, as I think it was a route which was needed from here and glad to see BA have returned to serve Orlando from Gatwick rather than Heathrow to give them some breathing space, so it can be served from both airports. Unsure on how some other leisure focused routes are doing from Heathrow and whether they will be kept here or not. I'm unsure as to where Virgin can expand to out of Heathrow next if they had the slots needed.
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It is daily from December.
Virgin are a mature long haul carrier with a strong US partner, expansion has been slot limited since they got LHR access 31 years ago. I suspect Tampa is made possible only with Delta feeding the US end and being sold to LHR rather than LGW. I'm not convinced HKG and PVG will be back for the "long haul", they might be, but I suspect that just like BA, they'll focus on where they do best, and that's working closely with a US partner across the North Atlantic. Orlando is currently scheduled for 2 x daily for Summer 2023 out of LHR.
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Virgin are a mature long haul carrier with a strong US partner, expansion has been slot limited since they got LHR access 31 years ago. I suspect Tampa is made possible only with Delta feeding the US end and being sold to LHR rather than LGW. I'm not convinced HKG and PVG will be back for the "long haul", they might be, but I suspect that just like BA, they'll focus on where they do best, and that's working closely with a US partner across the North Atlantic. Orlando is currently scheduled for 2 x daily for Summer 2023 out of LHR.
It's not about "could be viable" it's all about where your expensive airliner drives the biggest bang for your buck. Remember they also served DXB, NRT and SYD as part of the ambition to compete with BA worldwide but having a strong US partner may well mean an additional LHR-DTW/MSP/ATL rotation may well be more profitable. They're not niche exactly, just more properly focussed than before.
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I believe Manchester-Las Vegas was last served in April/May 2020 by VS.
I could see a return to Las Vegas, but I think Los Angeles would also be a really good route for them from Manchester. Capture some of that traffic currently connecting with BA at Heathrow and through other European hubs.
I think if they are stumped for growth at Heathrow and aren’t returning to Gatwick, Manchester should see some decent route growth and development.
I could see a return to Las Vegas, but I think Los Angeles would also be a really good route for them from Manchester. Capture some of that traffic currently connecting with BA at Heathrow and through other European hubs.
I think if they are stumped for growth at Heathrow and aren’t returning to Gatwick, Manchester should see some decent route growth and development.
Join Date: Jul 2004
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I believe Manchester-Las Vegas was last served in April/May 2020 by VS.
I could see a return to Las Vegas, but I think Los Angeles would also be a really good route for them from Manchester. Capture some of that traffic currently connecting with BA at Heathrow and through other European hubs.
I think if they are stumped for growth at Heathrow and aren’t returning to Gatwick, Manchester should see some decent route growth and development.
I could see a return to Las Vegas, but I think Los Angeles would also be a really good route for them from Manchester. Capture some of that traffic currently connecting with BA at Heathrow and through other European hubs.
I think if they are stumped for growth at Heathrow and aren’t returning to Gatwick, Manchester should see some decent route growth and development.
I do hope we see some growth by VS to the USA and elsewhere. Prior to the pandemic they were operating seasonally to LAX and had announced service to Delhi. They were well-advanced with a plan to create a hub at MAN involving feed by FlyBe, but we all know what happened there. MAN is currently without domestic service to EDI or GLA, which would be an important source of feed to long-haul, however northern England and the midlands is a pretty large catchment in itself.
I'm not sure that argument of hubbing via MAN holds water. Edinburgh has flights with Delta, United, American, Air Canada & I think Westjet. Why would anyone want to connect with the sprawling disjointed airport of Manchester.? Any Virgin flights from MAN would have to be able to stand alone without any significant reliance on connections. The two main long haul destinations unserved from MAN remain Bangkok & Delhi, with the recession looming, I don't see any carrier having the appetite for major expansion (with Ryanair being the notable possible exception)
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I'm not sure that argument of hubbing via MAN holds water. Edinburgh has flights with Delta, United, American, Air Canada & I think Westjet. Why would anyone want to connect with the sprawling disjointed airport of Manchester.? Any Virgin flights from MAN would have to be able to stand alone without any significant reliance on connections. The two main long haul destinations unserved from MAN remain Bangkok & Delhi, with the recession looming, I don't see any carrier having the appetite for major expansion (with Ryanair being the notable possible exception)