Manchester: Virgin Atlantic Route News & Base Updates

[User001]

Virgin to New York JFK to be confirmed in the coming days. VS127/128 will operate daily from 25 May 2017

 

[andyc941]

I've read it will be replacing Delta aircraft on the route. It will be a shame to loose Delta on the tarmac at MAN, unless they have plans for other routes.

 

[Dobbo]

Virgin to New York JFK to be confirmed in the coming days. VS123/124 will operate daily from 1st June 2017

Will this mean another based A330?

 

[User001]

It is another based aircraft from July, that's 6 based now (2 B744 and 4 A333)

Delta to announce Detroit.

 

[Dobbo]

Does the JFK rotation take the airframe out of action for an entire day? (I.e. Could airframes rotate through JFK after a longer sector like SFO or LAX?)

 

[User001]

It doesn't require a full 24 hour turn, but, will just operate the JFK route for now.

 

[Dobbo]

Is there any reason why the new VS and DL services are seasonal? From recollection SFO, BOS are both seasonal, JFK is seasonally operated by VS allowing DTW to be seasonal using DL.

Is there any prospect of this traffic balancing out?

Same principle also applies to other TATL routes with AA, UA.

 

[Dobbo]

Any movement towards the DTW announcement - seems like a case of "when" not "if" according to routesonline...

 

[jfy1999]

According to the article, Delta plan to take up the JFK route again in winter 2017/18:

http://www.routesonline.com/news/29...in-atlantic-in-transatlantic-route-reshuffle/

 

[Dobbo]

I've assumed this means that:

1- the VS aircraft doing the JFK run is either redeployed on a different route from MAN or is based elsewhere for the winter.
2 - the DL aircraft doing MAN-DTW is redeployed to JFK-MAN.
3 - MAN-DTW is seasonal only.

 

[Land23R]

I've been away for a week but have I missed a formal announcement that DL are starting MAN-DTW or are we assuming it's a formality?

The article in Routes online that is referred to states:
"Like the situation in London this could free Delta to introduce additional seasonal flights into the UK from other points across the US. According to industry sources, the airline is understood to be looking at flights between Detroit and Manchester among other markets under consideration".

I hope it does happen, but past experience tells us that a route being considered by an airline does not ensure it actually operates.

 

[User001]

Detroit is all but confirmed by sounds of it.

The timetable for July and August 2017 look to be great at this stage:

1030 VS75 Orlando International
1045 VS127 New York JFK
1100 VS109 Atlanta
1145 VS85 Las Vegas
1155 VS125 San Fransisco
1245 VS73 Orlando International
1355 VS87 Bridgetown
1520 VS121 Boston

Just think, as little as 3 years ago that was just Orlando, Las Vegas and Bridgetown!

 

[Dobbo]

Do you think they'll want their own club room as part of the TP?

Add in another based aircraft - which seems more likely than not to happen in 2018 if not sooner - and it seems worth the investment if MAN is a long term project for them.

 

[User001]

The club house will be a question of when, not if now.

To have up to 6 flights per day, in relatively quick succession to keep staffing costs down, means that a club house is a given.

I would assume it would be part of the redevelopment, as I believe there are going to be up to 14 lounges in the new plan.

Emirates, Etihad, Escape x2 (north and south), V-room, Bollin lounge, British Airways (OneWorld) and Aspire will be 8 lounges.

Virgin Club house, and I think lounge 35 will add a further 2, and don't quote me but I've heard a star alliance or Lufthansa lounge will also be added make 11.

Not sure who the other 3 could be, but I assume 1 could be a lounge after US Pre-clearance similar to that at Dublin Airport. Qatar normally would have been an armchair guess, but, they don't seem to do many lounges outside of Qatar so may use the OneWorld lounge.

 

[Dobbo]

Agreed - don't want to get too off topic (can discuss further in the building the future thread) but there aren't many more obvious routes for VS/DL to run. If you take DTW as going ahead it is only really LAX and MIA missing.

Obviously you would want to see a stronger year round offering but and more frequency but that is a fair amount of business for VS going through MAN...

 

[michael]

Detroit is all but confirmed by sounds of it.

The timetable for July and August 2017 look to be great at this stage:

1030 VS75 Orlando International
1045 VS127 New York JFK
1100 VS109 Atlanta
1145 VS85 Las Vegas
1155 VS125 San Fransisco
1245 VS73 Orlando International
1355 VS87 Bridgetown
1520 VS121 Boston

Just think, as little as 3 years ago that was just Orlando, Las Vegas and Bridgetown!

So if the above is daily that would be 8 aircraft so I'm assuming 3x B744 for the 2 Orlando's and possibly Bridgetown plus 5 others, A330's or a mix of aircraft? Could the B789 make an appearance?

 

[EGCC_MAN]

User001's post lists the Virgin peak-summer destinations and flight numbers but not all of these services operate daily. Virgin's core Summer programme will require a based fleet of 2 x B744 and 3 x A333. During the July/August peak a fourth A333 is shipped in to operate the LAS runs whilst the B744's are dedicated to MCO at this time. My understanding from elsewhere is that the fourth A333 is only available for afew weeks annually, as Virgin schedule maintenance to avoid the UK school summer holidays as far as possible. The highest profits accrue during those few weeks, so it pays to maximise flying then. There are no near-term plans to deploy VIR B789 equipment at MAN based on announcements to date.

 

[User001]

If only they were all daily!

As EGCC has said, there are no plans to bring the B789 up to Manchester yet. They are being used to replace the B744 and A333 at Heathrow.

The good thing about the B789 is that, as more come online, then one more A330 will be sent up to MAN. VS has a fleet of 10? A330, so, barring the 2 based at Gatwick on a seperate AOC, we should see all 8 A330 at MAN eventually.

Once all the A330 are up at MAN, there may be a scenario where the only way to expand at MAN is to use the B789, or of course, they could just lease more A330. The B744 will remain at MAN until the new aircraft, likely A350-1000, replaces them.

 

[Dobbo]

A fleet of 8 A330 and 2/3 A350-1000 would be a serious commitment to MAN. What sort of network could you have?

Orlando (2x daily)
Bridgetown (3x weekly)
Las Vegas (4x weekly)
New York (daily)
Atlanta (daily)
Boston (5x weekly)
Miami (4x weekly)
Boston (5x weekly)
San Francisco (daily)
Los Angeles (daily)
Cape Town (4x weekly)

As well as any Delta flight like Detroit. Outside of the high holiday season they could probably do even more rotations than that, but I'm running out of options!

 

[EGCC_MAN]

One does have to wonder though ... what are VIR's future requirements for the LGW 'beach fleet' operation? Will GLA or perhaps BHX be in the running for one or more A333's to service MCO etc.? But if MAN does end up with 8 x A333 (and the A35X) there will be no complaints from me. Obviously, Dreamliners are seen by the market as the latest thing, but those VIR A333's are actually very decent to fly in from a passenger perspective. They're not old. Virgin's 'UFO' is very nice inside! And they bring round complimentary ice creams ;-)