V-Flyer

Well she's off tonight (11/03/14)!! That's 1 down 3 to go.... G-VFAR next!! There is a god.

May the G-VSUN god smile upon you.....

Translation please?!?

mandeeuk wrote:Translation please?!?

The Airbus A343s are being retired from the fleet. They are the only ones still equipped with Vera Reel (formally Odyssey) IFE

The G-VSUN god is in reference to G-VSUN: Rainbow Lady, the only A343 with Vera On Demand as the IFE.

Not too sure on the withdrawal schedule (didn't know it was starting yet tbh) given the delays with the Dreamliners. Fingers crossed G-VSUN will be the last to go and that they are replaced by the 787s soon ii)

I think the next is G-VFAR sometime in AUG/SEPT from the free'd up 346 from dropping the SYD route.

That will leave just VELD and VSUN left to be replaced by 787's by year end.

I've lost track of all of this - does VS plan to retain any 346s, and if not, what type do they plan for the HKG rotation?

Am I the only one that feels sad for an aircraft when it retires, as if it knows it's carried it's last passengers?

*backs out of thread red faced*

LaurenH wrote:Am I the only one that feels sad for an aircraft when it retires, as if it knows it's carried it's last passengers?

*backs out of thread red faced*

No you are not.

I believe they will need to deploy the 787 on the HKG route as - once the 346's go - there are no other planes in the fleet that can fly that far . I know they have the 747 but very unlikely on that route although BA have a 380 a day and CX have 5 flights so there is a string demand.

Glad to see the back of the last few non-AVOD aircraft in the fleet, from what I've read the IFE on those aircraft was not up to modern standards.

Fleet-wise the next 2 years are pivotal for VS' turnaround with more-or-less all the A340's going to be replaced by much more efficient 787-9's. An A330, B787, B747 fleet should be a good fit for their current route network.

LaurenH wrote:Am I the only one that feels sad for an aircraft when it retires, as if it knows it's carried it's last passengers?

*backs out of thread red faced*

Nope, and not just aircraft...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNz5yHafTdM

Many, many years ago when the A340-300's were 1st introduced, we flew on one of them ex MAN to MCO.

It was brand new at the time and was configured without Upper.

Think it was only used for a few months in that configuration but can anyone confirm that it was this plane ie Maiden Toyko.

Thanks

David

Sealink wrote:

LaurenH wrote:Am I the only one that feels sad for an aircraft when it retires, as if it knows it's carried it's last passengers?

*backs out of thread red faced*

Nope, and not just aircraft...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNz5yHafTdM

I wasn't expecting that! I was quite sad when Renfrew Rose & Yoker Swan retired, I was a regular user. I haven't been on the new one.

Is this definitely farewell? On VS Source it says its just for maintenance. Also over the past few months each of the 340-300s have gone for a few weeks for maintenance before returning to service.

It is definitely a farewell after 17 tears of service for G-VAIR. This was an aircraft freed up by dropping ACC a few months back.

G-VFAR is the next to go in September - this is made possible b y the freeing up of a -600 from dropping the HKG-SYD tag.

It's farewell. Takes weeks to do a return to leasing company check on the aircraft. Plus fix and change any faulty or worn parts. Then it has to be flown to Manchester. Painted white. Then it needs to have a demo flight. And returned to the leasing company on a ferry flight all before the 1st May.

David wrote:Many, many years ago when the A340-300's were 1st introduced, we flew on one of them ex MAN to MCO.

It was brand new at the time and was configured without Upper.

Think it was only used for a few months in that configuration but can anyone confirm that it was this plane ie Maiden Toyko.

Thanks

David

I believe G-VAIR was delivered early in 1997. I have a photo somewhere in my attic of G-VSUN at MAN circa-1996, I'm pretty sure it was that aircraft which was delivered in a 2-class config for MAN-MCO, but then they needed an extra A340 to operate the JNB so MAN ended up with a leased 767-300 for a while!

G-VSUN spent a while away with Virgin Nigeria. When returned it needed a full refurb, hence why it was fitted with V-Port.

DrFlyer wrote:
I believe G-VAIR was delivered early in 1997. I have a photo somewhere in my attic of G-VSUN at MAN circa-1996, I'm pretty sure it was that aircraft which was delivered in a 2-class config for MAN-MCO, but then they needed an extra A340 to operate the JNB so MAN ended up with a leased 767-300 for a while!

Thanks DrFlyer,

It still had that "new plane" smell

The next again year from MAN we had a very old, smelly, pure white 747-300 with zero IFE but were suitably compensated

I think it was a few years after that that the new 747's were delivered.

David

The all white 747 was leased from air Atlanta

I seem to remember Virgin ridding themselves one of their oldest 340-3's to BWIA in the Caribbean when they started taking on the 340-6's.

Yep that was G-VSKY that had the partial main gear failure at LHR after arriving from LAX

virginboy747 wrote:The all white 747 was leased from air Atlanta

I remember flying on the 747-300 in the summer of 2000, it was white with a green tail and "ICELANDIC" in very small type at the front of the plane. I recall being rather disgusted, although it was at least a fast ride (7hr 45min MAN-MCO!) and the Australian pilot made a point of inviting anyone who wanted to up to the cockpit for a look around which was cool. "My Dog Skip" on an ancient main screen entertainment system, however, was not.

I do remember the plane being in a heavily economy-class orientated configuration, I presume it had been doing Hajj charter work. We were in economy class in Zone A!

DrFlyer wrote:, it was white with a green tail and "ICELANDIC" in very small type at the front of the plane. I recall being rather disgusted,

that's the one ! We were upstairs in huge seats but with no IFE. On the way home it had at least been fitted with a new purple carpet which helped "freshen" it up a little

David.