V-Flyer

1)Are the 300 going to have suites fitted?

2) have any been done yet?

3) any timescales?

Thanks

Hi silverfox,

(1) Yes I think so

(2) None of them have been done yet

(3) Starting in Summer 2005 I think

Regards

TBS

quote:Originally posted by The_Banking_Scot
Hi silverfox,

(1) Yes I think so

(2) None of them have been done yet

(3) Starting in Summer 2005 I think

Regards

TBS

only the A343s which have oddessy are getting the suites (they were delivered later), the A343s with arcadia are leaving the fleet.

summer 2005 is an odd time, peak time, the gatwick fleet are getting fitted in septeber (I've heard reports of december though) and they'll be getting both suites and v:port (apparently). Going by the time it's taken for Lady P to be fitted, that will take 5 months, that brings us to february, which is approximately quiet time, (between winter and summer) and perfect time for the A343s to be done.

then I guess sometime during that period, TOP, XLG and AST will get that 'orrible entertainment system off and replaced with that holy grail

I would of thought that Virgin would get rid of the A343 and replace them with the A346.

Some of the A343s (the ones with arcadia) were delivered around about 1994, when the a340 line was just starting up (virgin was a launch customer IIRC), these will get sold off as new aircraft enter the fleet (one has already gone to BWIA)

When the order was placed for those they also placed an order for 5 more, to be delivered around 1997, (fitted with oddessy) These will stay as they're fairly new aircraft, and are decent enough (just need to get rid of the entertainment system)

I liked the Odessey IFE.

But at least with V:Port its a AVOD:D

LGW fleet will start getting suites from November i believe and that only 2 or 3 will have suites by end of 2004.

Oydessey will be aorund for a few years yet as its a good system.

The A343 are ideal to launch new routes.

Look at PHC for the first few months the flights were going with only around 50 pax on board.

Took me a few moments to find out where PHC is - Port Harcourt. Note to Pix: it's missing from the Active Lookup database.

I quite like the idea of being on a VS flight with only 50 pax - that would be pretty neat!

Oydessey will be aorund for a few years yet as its a good system.

I disagree, the controls on some of them are broken, the seats are tired and shabby (particularly the premium economy section). The screens are also not particularly good, several colours overlay. The system is also prone to locking as well.

V:port should be on all planes to help standardise the fleet.

V-Port also costs around £3 to £5 million to fit to each aircraft.

Oydessy IS a very good system and many crew prefer working on an aircraft with this system as it very reliable.

The screen quality is large and I have never come across a problem with the colour. You can always adjust the colour and contrast anyway.

Oydessy has plenty of games, 22 channels of TV and around 20 radio channels too.

The best thing to do is just fly on a flight with A346 operating then you wil be happy or make a cheque payable to VAA for £5 million then you get new seat and V Port too!

when I meant colour, I meant that the colours overlapped each other:




( | = border of colour on the tes screen)

Blythy,

You may not like Oydessy and I am sure your comments are valid when applied to some installations, but in general it is a good system, it is only when compared to a AVOD system such as V:Port that it appears inferior.

Considered opinion seems to be that any aircraft due to be fitted with the new UCS will retain Oydessy where currently fitted. I imagine if they are doing a complete seat refurb, UCS, Kash and Wash they will always fit V.Port but as Declan says, the costs are considerable.