#911984 by Sealink
21 Oct 2015, 23:32
In the future, those looking at the history of Virgin Atlantic may chance upon two key dates:

31st March 2013 and 26th September 2015.
The day Little Red launched, and the day it closed.

There are myriad reasons why Little Red wasn’t the success it could have been: Virgin blame the tiny amount of slots they were offered, others blame Virgin’s marketing machine. Add the fact that running a UK domestic operation to feed it’s flights was now no longer key to the survival of the airline – not when you have the US Domestic network of Delta to be served. Up to the last minute, people asked me “Virgin fly to Scotland?” – I think the marketing machine missed a trick.

However, one thing is for certain: Little Red was great! Every flight I had with them was enjoyable, the crew coming across as really proud to wear the Virgin uniform (even though it was Aer Lingus ‘planes and agency staff, you’d never really notice that).

So, 26th September 2015 was the day of the last two Little Red flights. One to Edinburgh, and one to Aberdeen – the actual last flight. I was on this flight.


Terminal 2 at Heathrow is of course brand new, and it was my first time there since I was one of the ‘testing’ crew back in 2014. It’s looking well! There was a nice serenity to the place, even though it was busy.

To start with, thanks to Chilli710 for bagging rights for me through Fastrack Security and for securing lounge access in the bright and airy Aer Lingus lounge. As usual, I will let the pictures do that talking…

If it wasn’t for him, I would have missed out on this….

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Yes – the ‘plane was literally taking off as quickly as possible after landing in Aberdeen to go back to Dublin, so no refreshments at all were carried. Or inflight magazines or anything superfluous - refreshing in some respects!

There were showers!

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Chilli710 and myself spent most of the afternoon watching planes come and go – I was hopeless at identifying the Boeing’s and Airbuses but Chilli710 gave me a few tips.

Also, there was Prosecco in the lounge, so that’s instant bonus points.

However, the clock was ticking, and sure enough boarding was announced. I have to say I had a heavy heart at this point. It didn’t feel right that BA was to be handed a monopoly again at Fortress Heathrow.

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I said goodbye to Chilli710 who was off to Edinburgh, and waited.





It was time.

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The aircraft interior was softly lit, and there was a bit of party on board, with lots of Little Red crew on board to say goodbye, having a great time. It was a very good natured flight!

The steward even commented that it’s the first time he’d been heckled, and especially during the safety announcement.

Legroom was OK for me.
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Crew queuing for a selfie

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The Captain gave a glowing review of the operation, and every member of the team that gets you from check-in to your destination was introduced, and thanked, to cheers and applause. He seemed genuinely moved.

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As we landed, one final announcement: “Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for the lady that made this all possible, our Tartan Lassie…”



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#912025 by jfenney
22 Oct 2015, 20:36
Thanks for the TR Billy, glad Little Red had a great send off , love the photos :-D

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