Virgin Atlantic

[Little G]

On VS109. A couple of interesting points. CSM confirms A332 staying for duration of the lease. UC will get new suites but remain in current configuration. No bar will be added. Premium may not be added as new 3 class economy with 34 inch pitch at the top end will be used.
Crew are nice but having to apologise for the standard of seats in UC. First world problems I know.
251 pax on board. UC has 2 spare seats. Many suites have no audio so handing out iPads plus £50 vouchers.
I have to say the UC Seat is cramped. Narrowest business seat I’ve been in.

 

[Land23R]

Thanks for your report.
Doesn't sound great does it, but it's hardly unknown for MAN to be given a less than standard fleet offering when a/c have to be sought from elsewhere. From what you say about UC, I do wonder whether VS will hold onto all their premium / business pax.

Can't speak for others but Virgin look like losing our booking for a Florida holiday next winter. We've tended to book extra legroom on the way out and PE on the return on about 5 previous holidays. Orlando means a long drive and the ATL only seems to be operating 3 x weekly and apparently will have no PE anyway. So we're considering AA to MIA via PHL and back from Fort Myers. Don't know what it's like but the A332 does have PE now and quite a bit cheaper than VS to MCO.

 

[ethanegcc]

If it’s good enough for Berlin, surely it’s good enough for Manchester!

The UC seats aren’t that bad from reviews I’ve seen and Economy offers a similar product. Maybe the 332s would be better fitted to the Caribbean Gatwick routes?

 

[ethanegcc]

Virgin seem to be increasing the ops on the MAN-JFK and -ATL routes for this winter.

MAN-ATL ops Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat
MAN-JFK ops Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sun

Although slightly disappointing that this hasn’t increased to daily, an increase is welcome nevertheless.

Obviously this cannot be carried out with one A330 - maybe that leads us to the possibility of two A330s with one a/c operating 5x weekly Delhi?

 

[Jerry]

Virgin seem to be increasing the ops on the MAN-JFK and -ATL routes for this winter.

MAN-ATL ops Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat
MAN-JFK ops Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sun

Although slightly disappointing that this hasn’t increased to daily, an increase is welcome nevertheless.

Obviously this cannot be carried out with one A330 - maybe that leads us to the possibility of two A330s with one a/c operating 5x weekly Delhi?

Aren't the A330 200s going to have new cabins fitted over the winter?

 

[Land23R]

I don't find the VS schedules on their web site if you put in dates (within a week), direct flights only, particularly straightforward, but it looks to me as if MCO end November/early December is only 4 x weekly on Sun/Tues/Wed/Thurs. I can't believe other days are completely booked up.

Is this right, or am I mis-reading it? I thought normally it was at least 6 x weekly (no Mon, flight) but more if there were 2 flights on certain days.

 

[ethanegcc]

Aren't the A330 200s going to have new cabins fitted over the winter?

I don't know on that one. The flights to ATL and JFK are scheduled to be operated by the -300 from Oct onwards.

 

[ethanegcc]

On a separate note, Virgin's US website prominently features Manchester:View attachment 8341

 

[ethanegcc]

Further to the above, in addition to expanded frequencies on JFK/ATL this winter, some of the services will be operated by the 747 fleet.

Good news - with this we are starting to level out the seasonal capacity fluctuation in JFK and ATL.

 

[Land23R]

Virgin seem to be increasing the ops on the MAN-JFK and -ATL routes for this winter.

MAN-ATL ops Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat
MAN-JFK ops Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sun

Although slightly disappointing that this hasn’t increased to daily, an increase is welcome nevertheless.

Looking at booking Florida flights early Dec'18 and it seems the ATL Wed. flight has been removed. Just Mon/Thurs/Sat but still a B747.
However, the web site also showing some ludicrous fares for PE - more like Upper Class fares so they will probably lose my business to AA.

Incidentally, it's probably just me but I find their web site difficult to navigate at times for a return flight. You click the outbound flight but it keeps saying they need more information. Have succeeded a couple of times but can never remember how to get to another page/box where a small tick is faintly visible which you have to click. I'm sure they could make it easier for simple guys like me.

 

[Land23R]

Well, prices appear to have been revised to more normal levels so assume it was a temporary blip while they updated. However, I'm still puzzled why returning from Fort Myers (RSW) with a connection time of only 50 minutes in ATL is £127 cheaper in PE than on a flight 2 hours earlier from RSW with a much more comfortable layover in ATL.

That's with an outbound to MIA via ATL and 2hrs 45mins transfer. Oddly, on a flight 2 hrs later from ATL but returning on the earlier flight from RSW, the cheaper price applies.

The domestic flights are DL, and in fact booking through DL appears to be slightly cheaper.

I can appreciate that fares vary according to demand but the variation seems odd this far in advance.

 

[jfy1999]

Virgin Atlantic S19 preliminary changes as of 06MAY18

Manchester – Atlanta eff 31MAR19 1 daily 747-400, replacing A330-300
Manchester – Las Vegas eff 31MAR19 2 weekly A330-200, replacing 747-400

 

[Jerry]

Virgin Atlantic S19 preliminary changes as of 06MAY18

Manchester – Atlanta eff 31MAR19 1 daily 747-400, replacing A330-300
Manchester – Las Vegas eff 31MAR19 2 weekly A330-200, replacing 747-400

How many aircraft will be based for 2019?

 

[Scottie Dog]

How many aircraft will be based for 2019?

According to LAX_LHR on Dried Fruit it will be 4 x 747 and 2 x A330-200.

Hope that helps.

 

[pholling]

Well, prices appear to have been revised to more normal levels so assume it was a temporary blip while they updated. However, I'm still puzzled why returning from Fort Myers (RSW) with a connection time of only 50 minutes in ATL is £127 cheaper in PE than on a flight 2 hours earlier from RSW with a much more comfortable layover in ATL.

That's with an outbound to MIA via ATL and 2hrs 45mins transfer. Oddly, on a flight 2 hrs later from ATL but returning on the earlier flight from RSW, the cheaper price applies.

The domestic flights are DL, and in fact booking through DL appears to be slightly cheaper.

I can appreciate that fares vary according to demand but the variation seems odd this far in advance.

Do not try to make too many heads or tails with the reservations systems. Especially DL's, which is what VS now use. I find that two searches one after another will often turn up different results on the combinations that give a specific price. Further, it will sometimes quote a price when you start only to end up with a lower one once you choose all the flights in the booking.

 

[MaccMan]

Further Virgin expansion at Manchester with a new route to Los Angeles

https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/virgin-atlantic-reveals-major-manchester-expansion-14338

 

[thunderchild]

This has come at the expense of SFO which is dropped from the end of the season.

VS operating to LAX makes much more sense but I wonder if VS and TCX can both survive in this market?

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with BOS - still nothing bookable on TCX yet.

 

[Jerry]

This has come at the expense of SFO which is dropped from the end of the season.

VS operating to LAX makes much more sense but I wonder if VS and TCX can both survive in this market?

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with BOS - still nothing bookable on TCX yet.

LAX is a Delta hub so they'll have that to tap into not to mention the holidays side selling Disneyland packages as well. I wouldn't be surprised if eventually they'll launch Seattle as well in the future.

 

[ethanegcc]

Virgin Atlantic officially announce new MAN-LAX route, with increases to other routes. No mention of dropping SFO. New Los Angeles route bookable from 25th June.

With a fantastic photo of Virgin at Manchester Terminal 2:
View attachment 8835

 

[Land23R]

Ethan, the original story in TTG etc. said the route would start 26 May 2019. 25th June seems a bit late.

As regards SFO, it would be rather unusual for an airline to admit it was dropping a route in a press release promoting a new route and extra capacity. A poster on another forum wrote that he'd contacted Virgin and they confirmed the route would not operate after this summer.

Yes, a great line-up of 5 a/c at T2. With a bit of luck it should be 6 next year.