787 Fleet / changes to flying program

I see there is a delay on the launch of the flights to Accra also the return to Tel Aviv.

"From Head for Points"
Virgin Atlantic has been very quiet about the state of its own Boeing 787 fleet.

However, according to The Times, the airline is planning to:

delay the launch of flights to Accra in Ghana, due to start on 1st May
delay the return to Tel Aviv, which is currently due on 30th March
The implication in The Times is that this will not be enough and that other services will also be chopped.

The 17-strong Boeing 787 fleet at Virgin Atlantic is reportedly one aircraft down, presumably due to parts being used to keep other aircraft flying, and this is expected to increase to two next year.

There is no quick fix to the issue, with Rolls-Royce struggling to obtain spare engine parts from its suppliers.

Looks like BA six of 787 fleet grounded because of issues finding parts.

[mitchja]

Having just checked flightradar, as of Nov 8th (Friday) all 17 of VS's B789s were operating so not sure where the statement that VS are 1 B789 is actually coming from?

[mitchja]

Now confirmed by VS today:

VSbulletin: Changes to our Tel Aviv and Accra flying programme - 11 Nov '24

We’re letting you know that we’ve taken the difficult decision to adjust our flying programme, which means that the restart of our Tel Aviv services and our new services to Accra will be delayed until the Winter 2025/26 season, which starts 26 October 2025.

It’s been necessary to make these changes to ensure our operation is resilient, while it is impacted by the reduced availability of Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, which are fitted to our Boeing 787-9 aircraft. Our teams are working closely with our partners at Rolls-Royce on solutions to minimise disruption to our flying programme, but some amendments are required. We’d like to apologise to affected customers and remain fully committed to both routes.