Virgin Atlantic guts its network – Tokyo, Cape Town, Mumbai, Vancouver scrapped

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• Paul says:

  4 Sep4 September 06:48

  Have to agree that this puts a big hole in the LHR expansion argument. It further restricts competition to both the USA and the rest if the world and will simply lead to even higher fares and falling standards.
  It’s telling that neither VS nor BA have introduced any new product as they clearly have no need. The alliances and link ups creating legal cartels and fare / schedule collusion means UK consumers are exploited and I’ll served. A new airport providing access to any carrier to operate any route is the only way to improve competition and lower fares.
  Can’t say I will miss Virgin as have never flown long haul with them but it’s another nail in the competition coffin!

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    4 Sep4 September 08:27

    I’m not sure it does. Seems to be that airlines are having to choose safe bets on routes because slots are precious and scarce. If the supply of slots into LHR was essentially unlimited, we might have seen Virgin choosing to keep these routes.

• James67 says:

  4 Sep4 September 06:52

  Such situations are very annoying and inconveniencing for passengers. I hope Virgin will be helpful in their reaccommodatiin. To ofeb airlines just go down the refund route which can end up both a nightmare and very costly for passengers. I think EU regulations should be substantially tightened in such situations to make airlines liable not just for full fare refu d but also demonstratable additional losses such as prepaid hotel stays, tours etc. If so then we would fibd their reaccomnodation much more effective. It is always a good idea where possubleto pay a little extra for flexible hotel stays etc to guard against such situations. I cannot help but feel Delta are taking Virgin backwards.

• JQ says:

  4 Sep4 September 06:59

  Well they certainly spent a lot of money promoting themselves in Vancouver at the start of this summer.

• MDM says:

  4 Sep4 September 07:04

  I am one of the thousands affected by the service cuts. A long-time planned trip to Tokyo (for leisure, not work) cancelled.

  I called shortly after the announcement was made yesterday (on the number advised by Virgin). This situation had clearly taken the staff by surprise.as they were only informed themselves an hour earlier. They did not have any plan in place to advise customers calling in, the agent was at a loss and although polite, suggested I call back in two weeks time!

  So I called back a few hours later. with more success this time. My details were taken, our tickets were booked for ANA in Business (we had Upper Class tickets booked).. The dates are unchanged fortunately.

  This is a disappointing move. I suspect JNB and HGK will follow in time and Virgin will be truly Atlantic again. Not what SRB had in mind a few years ago I don’t suppose.

  The loss of eastern flight options detracts from the appeal of the Flying Club unless one wishes to confine reward trips to the USofA. This year I had diverted most miles I earn to BAEC. I imagine more will do the same now.

  • M says:

    4 Sep4 September 09:07

    Would take ANA over VA any time…

    • richie says:

      4 Sep4 September 09:33

      or fly jal and earn avios.

      • JQ says:

        5 Sep5 September 06:26

        Not very useful when you have a lot of VS miles…

• Dan says:

  4 Sep4 September 07:15

  Good news VS is taking on the Manchester Atlanta route, and DL are launching a Manchester New York route, however I would have thought a New York route under the Virgin brand would be more successful as at present there are no UK airlines from Manchester to the big apple.

• RIccati says:

  4 Sep4 September 07:25

  On related note, I remember there was a post about billions of Avios issued in the course of last year.

  Apparently FFP are a cash-generating and growing business, which for the smaller airlines represent up to a third of enterprise value
  http://www.breakingviews.com/21162722.article?h=7aadb862ab540f23799e5f45de651662&s=2

  It makes sense then if the Flying Club looses popularity as network shrink. In turn, that means destruction of value for Virgin Atlantic itself as FFP business gets sacrificed for the needs and desires of the main shareholder. Synergies of the M&A!

  • Phillip says:

    4 Sep4 September 07:50

    Yes, but you have to remember that the FFP of the main shareholder happens to currently be the biggest in the world following all its recent aqcuisitions, overtaking American’s Aadvantage! I believe AA’s merger with US won’t dent that either.

    • RIccati says:

      4 Sep4 September 08:18

      Spending CC-earned points on a Delta economy flight? No, thank you.

  • Rob says:

    4 Sep4 September 08:50

    Are suggesting that Detroit is less attractive for a holiday than Cape Town?!

    • Lady London says:

      4 Sep4 September 15:05

      My first thought when I saw the announcement yesterday was that Detroit airport probably PAID them to fly there.

      • Mikeact says:

        4 Sep4 September 16:39

        I was hoping that KL/AF would have eventually persuaded Delta to bring Virgin into the SkyTeam alliance. We were hoping to use up our Million+ miles on some of the now defunct routes.
        nb (And you think you BA regulars get stung on ‘Taxes etc.’..you should see what KL/AF demand..totally out of all proportion. )

      • Mikeact says:

        4 Sep4 September 16:41

        Why would you say that….an amazing airport and very convenient to connect elsewhere.

        • Lady London says:

          4 Sep4 September 18:35

          Because the economic situation of Detroit is dire. The city is broke. So it would make sense to give an airline incentives to open up there as it might increase business for the town. Do you remember cities used to pay Ryanair £1-2m to open flights there?

• Rohan says:

  4 Sep4 September 07:36

  Oh no ! What a waste of the credit card bonus and the vouchers that I just revived as the route I wanted to fly is scrapped

• Phillip says:

  4 Sep4 September 07:44

  I think this is certainly a case of “Delta guts Virgin Atlantic’s network”.

  I don’t see this as going against Heathrow expansion – at the end of the day, they’re just saying there is more business for them elsewhere. That doesn’t reduce the need for expansion. This is a single airline dropping just four routes already served by other airlines. It has no reflection on the demand from other worldwide airlines (let alone BA) for access to Heathrow.

  In addition, I think there is something to be said about the Virgin brand itself – I think it is very much a niche market at the pointy end for VS and as such their business very limited. I don’t think any advertising would do them many favours. They may have been “something different” ten years ago, but the Middle Eastern carriers have reset the bar on that, especially travelling east. Plus a number of other Asian airlines, particularly in China, have made inroads in connecting traffic, particularly with the relaxation of short-term tourist visa rules. All they need is to up their game on service levels and they’ll be taking in a lot of eastbound European traffic.

  As MDM mentions above, Virgin will be living up to their name.

  • Rob says:

    4 Sep4 September 08:49

    Under EU law it would be illegal for Delta, as a US airline, to be controlling Virgin which is why I could not use your proposed headline!

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