Virgin Atlantic are reducing its Manchester - Islamabad route from 4x to 2x weekly flights from May 2022. Timetable appears to be updating.
It would seem Virgin are focused on protecting their slots at LHR and it's MAN who is the loser. In fact, their web site seems to encourage MAN passengers to use their main competitor BA to fly to LHR to catch the direct VS flights from there rather than use MAN-ATL to connect onwards with DL.
This never use to be the case. I looked up MAN-LAX for example for dates in June and the first 4 options were all via the shuttle to LHR, and then it was AMS or PAR with KLM/DL or AF/DL. Same for the return flights. MAN-ATL-LAX did not appear. It does however show on the DL website and other search engines. We've flown MAN-ATL-RSW (Fort Myers, FL) previously but that came up with no flights!
A cynic might suggest that VS aren't bothered if the ATL route fails if they are trying to rely on P2P. My recollection is that traditionally that service always had a higher than normal proportion of transfer passengers at the DL hub. Hopefully, some will use other booking agencies and support the ATL connection. Incidentally, the dates I checked in June showed the flight to be an A330-200, when there was a suggestion their last 200 goes in May
With no flights to former destinations like LAX, LAS, SFO and BOS, what VS likes to call their 'home in the north' is getting a raw deal just now. Against the backcloth of the pandemic and the financial hit that Virgin took, a degree of consolidation was expected, but when Virgin announce a new route from Heathrow to Austin, one can't help at least questioning their commitment to MAN.
It would seem Virgin are focused on protecting their slots at LHR and it's MAN who is the loser. In fact, their web site seems to encourage MAN passengers to use their main competitor BA to fly to LHR to catch the direct VS flights from there rather than use MAN-ATL to connect onwards with DL.
This never use to be the case. I looked up MAN-LAX for example for dates in June and the first 4 options were all via the shuttle to LHR, and then it was AMS or PAR with KLM/DL or AF/DL. Same for the return flights. MAN-ATL-LAX did not appear. It does however show on the DL website and other search engines. We've flown MAN-ATL-RSW (Fort Myers, FL) previously but that came up with no flights!
A cynic might suggest that VS aren't bothered if the ATL route fails if they are trying to rely on P2P. My recollection is that traditionally that service always had a higher than normal proportion of transfer passengers at the DL hub. Hopefully, some will use other booking agencies and support the ATL connection. Incidentally, the dates I checked in June showed the flight to be an A330-200, when there was a suggestion their last 200 goes in May
With no flights to former destinations like LAX, LAS, SFO and BOS, what VS likes to call their 'home in the north' is getting a raw deal just now. Against the backcloth of the pandemic and the financial hit that Virgin took, a degree of consolidation was expected, but when Virgin announce a new route from Heathrow to Austin, one can't help at least questioning their commitment to MAN.
