Updated Schedule - Winter 2020 / Summer 2021

I’m really concerned that no plans are currently made/announced from Manchester for the remainder of this year too

I read somewhere on VS twitter that they'll review it in August and might add Manchester routes for the rest of 2020. I wonder, if they do go ahead with Manchester flights, if they'll be flying 787/a350 from there or bring back in the a330s.

[mitchja]

As far as I’m aware the MAN crews are not trained / certified to work on the B789’s or the A350’s hence why those A/C don’t op to or from MAN.

I’m really concerned that no plans are currently made/announced from Manchester for the remainder of this year too

I read somewhere on VS twitter that they'll review it in August and might add Manchester routes for the rest of 2020. I wonder, if they do go ahead with Manchester flights, if they'll be flying 787/a350 from there or bring back in the a330s.

They’ve gone as far as changing all the 747’s over to a330-300’s so far for Manchester. Lhr is getting 787’s and a330-300’s and a330-200’s. You would think after changing them all over from September through to rest of year they would be flying? A lot of work if they aren’t planning to fly at all so doesn’t make sense. Surely they can’t afford to drop Manchester til next year and survive? Arrgghhhh, the limbo .

Yep MAN crew are not 787/350 trained hence why it will be 330s from MAN

Just had this reply on Twitter when I asked if flying from Manchester at some point in 2020 was on the cards:

Hello Sarah, thank you for contacting us!
Virgin Atlantic will resume some routes on 20th July, while steadily increasing flying throughout the second half of 2020, with a further recovery through 2021. Manchester Airport is still currently under review. ^ERB

They’ve spent weeks changing all our aircrafts, rebooking overfilled filled flights onto the earlier ones etc. How can they not say if they are dropping Manchester for 2020 or not? What does under review mean for those of us booked from September onwards? Bloody frustrating

I can only assume the staff who haven’t been furloughed have been fully occupied with the complexities of shifting operations from LGW to LHR in a matter of weeks - something that would normally take months of planning, if not years.

That done, they can move on to MAN, GLA and BFS but it’ll take time.

VS is selling MAN JFK flights from July 20 on their website, with zero chance of these flights going...

Just had this reply on Twitter when I asked if flying from Manchester at some point in 2020 was on the cards:

Hello Sarah, thank you for contacting us!
Virgin Atlantic will resume some routes on 20th July, while steadily increasing flying throughout the second half of 2020, with a further recovery through 2021. Manchester Airport is still currently under review. ^ERB

Look why don’t they just be honest with the customers and say we are booking Manchester departures fromJuly but there are no guarantees that at this time flights will definitely go as planned,we will however update daily about progress and will put customers needs first. No fees will be made ifdates have to be moved forward. At the moment we all feel there is a lack of communication and refunds should be on one number with an email number and all other queries should be on another number with an email. We are Spending hours trying to get any information, that is the main problem. Trust needs to be given us before we can give it to them. Loyalty only goes so far. I hope they survive but I want to be treated to flying on the 787 and 350 to. Not just from Heathrow.

Virgin have now announced restart of Manchester flights.
7 flights a week from August 2nd to Orlando.
From 25th October: flying to Barbados, New York, Atlanta, los Angeles .

At least it’s a start.

[mitchja]

As pretty much expected, it looks like my LHR>BOS return flight on Aug 15th is getting canceled as the booking have dropped off my list of bookings this morning and when I search for it manually, it does find it however it's telling me there's a schedule change (even though the flight times look the same) and the seat maps have disappeared

[mitchja]

Here' the full list of changes from routesonline:

London Heathrow – Antigua eff 01OCT20 1 weekly 787-9
London Heathrow – Antigua – Grenada eff 02OCT20 2 weekly A330-300
London Heathrow – Antigua – Tobago eff 04OCT20 1 weekly A330-300
London Heathrow – Atlanta eff 25AUG20 3 weekly 787-9 (1 daily A330-300 from 01SEP20)
London Heathrow – Boston eff 01OCT20 1 daily A330-300
London Heathrow – Bridgetown eff 01AUG20 1 weekly 787-9 (3 weekly from 01OCT20)
London Heathrow – Delhi eff 01SEP20 1 daily A330-300
London Heathrow – Havana eff 01SEP20 2 weekly A330-300
London Heathrow – Hong Kong eff 20JUL20 3 weekly 787-9 (1 daily from 31AUG20)
London Heathrow – Johannesburg eff 14SEP20 1 daily 787-9 (5 weekly 01OCT20 – 13OCT20)
London Heathrow – Lagos eff 23AUG20 3 weekly A350-1000XWB (1 daily from 29AUG20)
London Heathrow – Las Vegas eff 01SEP20 1 daily 787-9
London Heathrow – Los Angeles eff 21JUL20 3 weekly 787-9/A350-1000XWB (1 daily from 01AUG20; A350-only from 22SEP20)
London Heathrow – Miami eff 18AUG20 3 weekly 787-9 (1 daily A330-300 from 01SEP20)
London Heathrow – Montego Bay eff 02OCT20 2 weekly 787-9
London Heathrow – Mumbai eff 01SEP20 1 daily 787-9
London Heathrow – New York JFK eff 21JUL20 3 weekly A350-1000XWB (1 daily from 01AUG20, 3 daily 787-9/A350 from 01SEP20)
London Heathrow – Orlando eff 20JUL20 2 daily 787-9
London Heathrow – San Francisco eff 04AUG20 3 weekly 787-9 (1 daily from 02SEP20)
London Heathrow – Seattle eff 01SEP20 1 daily 787-9
London Heathrow – Shanghai Pu Dong eff 04AUG20 1 weekly 787-9 (1 daily from 01SEP20)
London Heathrow – Tel Aviv eff 09AUG20 3 weekly 787-9 (1 daily from 01SEP20)
London Heathrow – Washington Dulles eff 01SEP20 1 daily A330-300
Manchester – Orlando eff 02AUG20 4 weekly 787-9 and 3 weekly A330-300 (1 daily A330-300 from 31AUG20)

Virgin have now announced restart of Manchester flights.
7 flights a week from August 2nd to Orlando.
From 25th October: flying to Barbados, New York, Atlanta, los Angeles .

At least it’s a start.

But again - as with the LHR-MCO route due to start on July 20th - it all depends on whether MCO is allowed to accept passenger flights from the UK, which right now it isn't.

Now: the fact that FLL and IAH have just been added to the list of approved airports makes me slightly more optimistic, and I read elsewhere that AA are lobbying for CLT & PHL to also be included, so it's not out of the question that MCO will be added in the coming weeks.

But the Presidential proclamation effectively banning Brits from entering the US, the FCO travel advisory and the UK quarantine requirement are all still in place for now, so for most people a summer holiday in the US is still a big no.

Here' the full list of changes from routesonline:

London Heathrow – Antigua eff 01OCT20 1 weekly 787-9
London Heathrow – Antigua – Grenada eff 02OCT20 2 weekly A330-300
London Heathrow – Antigua – Tobago eff 04OCT20 1 weekly A330-300
London Heathrow – Atlanta eff 25AUG20 3 weekly 787-9 (1 daily A330-300 from 01SEP20)
London Heathrow – Boston eff 01OCT20 1 daily A330-300
London Heathrow – Bridgetown eff 01AUG20 1 weekly 787-9 (3 weekly from 01OCT20)
London Heathrow – Delhi eff 01SEP20 1 daily A330-300
London Heathrow – Havana eff 01SEP20 2 weekly A330-300
London Heathrow – Hong Kong eff 20JUL20 3 weekly 787-9 (1 daily from 31AUG20)
London Heathrow – Johannesburg eff 14SEP20 1 daily 787-9 (5 weekly 01OCT20 – 13OCT20)
London Heathrow – Lagos eff 23AUG20 3 weekly A350-1000XWB (1 daily from 29AUG20)
London Heathrow – Las Vegas eff 01SEP20 1 daily 787-9
London Heathrow – Los Angeles eff 21JUL20 3 weekly 787-9/A350-1000XWB (1 daily from 01AUG20; A350-only from 22SEP20)
London Heathrow – Miami eff 18AUG20 3 weekly 787-9 (1 daily A330-300 from 01SEP20)
London Heathrow – Montego Bay eff 02OCT20 2 weekly 787-9
London Heathrow – Mumbai eff 01SEP20 1 daily 787-9
London Heathrow – New York JFK eff 21JUL20 3 weekly A350-1000XWB (1 daily from 01AUG20, 3 daily 787-9/A350 from 01SEP20)
London Heathrow – Orlando eff 20JUL20 2 daily 787-9
London Heathrow – San Francisco eff 04AUG20 3 weekly 787-9 (1 daily from 02SEP20)
London Heathrow – Seattle eff 01SEP20 1 daily 787-9
London Heathrow – Shanghai Pu Dong eff 04AUG20 1 weekly 787-9 (1 daily from 01SEP20)
London Heathrow – Tel Aviv eff 09AUG20 3 weekly 787-9 (1 daily from 01SEP20)
London Heathrow – Washington Dulles eff 01SEP20 1 daily A330-300
Manchester – Orlando eff 02AUG20 4 weekly 787-9 and 3 weekly A330-300 (1 daily A330-300 from 31AUG20)

This may be what VS aspires to operate but it all feels highly speculative.

MCO and LAS can't happen until those airports are granted permission to accept international passenger flights, which may or may not happen - no-one knows.

And three flights a day to JFK by 1 Sep? Do they seriously think there'll be the demand in barely two months from now? Pie in the sky IMHO.

[mitchja]

Email just received confirmed VS have canceled my flight to BOS in Aug. I've requested a refund via WhatsApp which has at least been updated to accommodate the updates from today (June 20th):

Screenshot 2020-06-20 at 14.28.36.png (1.39 MiB) Viewed 1613 times

Florida case numbers aren't looking good either: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... oronavirus

Whether that kurbs a reopening, whilst I personally think it would, Trump is definitely being led by the economy right now.

Florida case numbers aren't looking good either: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... oronavirus

Whether that kurbs a reopening, whilst I personally think it would, Trump is definitely being led by the economy right now.

It’s one of several reasons why we’re not going now in September. The spikes in cases tells me Florida does not have a grip on COVID-19 at all and it wouldn’t surprise me if, sooner or later, they end up having to go into lockdown again.

As an aside, I ended up paying my balance for said trip the other day. It was such an empty feeling to do so, but as VH won’t talk to me unless it’s within 14 day of my departure, I have to wait for them to contact me before chancing it to something else so figured I’ll go ahead and pay so at least whatever we switch to will be mostly paid for.

I've just checked my flights from Manchester to Atlanta on 30th September and it says there is a schedule change but there is no difference to the times/destination. The aircraft type has been removed and our seat reservations have gone. I've just done a dummy booking and there is no direct flight on that day or any day in September as far as I can see so it looks like my flight will be cancelled. I'm actually relieved if I'm honest as I am a bit nervous of going to America with the current situation, especially in Florida as I have a feeling that they may be having to lock down again if they don't get on top of this virus soon. God knows when we will get a refund for these flights though as I'm still waiting for a refund from my flights in March.

[mitchja]

God knows when we will get a refund for these flights though as I'm still waiting for a refund from my flights in March.

Mine was an amber schedule change message box which usually points to a cancelation. The message box is usually just green if there's a minor schedule change.

Do remember that for any cancelations after June 20th if you require a refund you will need to ask VS for it otherwise VS will automatically convert the booking to an open booking i.e. credit note and they will not automatically refund you if you do nothing.

My cancelled booking from yesterday is already showing as being open today but I have asked for a refund via WhatsApp as I've already got 1 open VS booking. I've not having any more credit notes.

I'm giving VS 30 days when I will then send a reminder message for the refund. If after another 30 days, I'll just just make a section 75 claim with the credit card company. I'm not waiting more than 2 months for a refund. AA refunded me a canceled flight a few weeks ago which took just 7 days! AA also have full online refund tracking capabilities as well.

If you have't yet received it here a copy of the cancelation email VS sent me yesterday:

Hello,

You may have seen the news recently that we’ve been making changes to our flying programme. Covid-19 has had a big impact on travel, and this means we’ve had to respond by consolidating our flights, and removing some from our schedule.

As a result, we’re sorry to let you know that your flight VS11 on 15 Aug 2020 has been cancelled.

We understand how much you would have been looking forward to your trip, so we’ve updated our rebooking policies to ensure you have the flexibility you need. To make things as easy as possible and provide you with immediate peace of mind, we will automatically keep your ticket open as credit for you to use for travel any time up to 30th September 2022, with no fee to change your booking.If you choose to travel on the same route up to 30th November 2020, we’ll also waive any potential fare differences. If you need to alter your travel plans, or would like someone else to benefit from your booking you can change the passenger names too.

There’s absolutely no rush to make a decision right now. We suggest you keep your booking reference as confirmation of your credit and when you’re ready to rebook, we’re here for you. Just let us know when and where you’d like to travel here, and our team will be back in touch to complete your booking.

With our customer centre teams working from home due to government regulations, with limited infrastructure and availability, our phone lines are very busy right now. The quickest way for us to get you rebooked is to let us know through the form on the website. For more details on the available options and any further questions, please check our latest up to date information here.
We're very grateful for your patience and understanding right now, and are really looking forward to seeing you onboard again soon.

Note the lack of any information about requesting a refund!! It's only when you start the messaging / WhatApp process does VS mention refunds (see my post above)

I agree many of the states in the US really have not got things anywhere near under control no matter what they seem to be saying in press conferences. That is one way of looking at it, you've effectively paid for a future holiday TBD as opposed to this September.

I also found it alarming how unless one is 'in the know' you could easily pass through all of this without knowing you could get a refund.

As a guage for anyone with an outstanding refund or about to file for one - I sent a complaint to VS about the refund situation and heard back today. They said that refunds would be completed 'no later than 120 days' after being requested.

Received from VS trade;

Vsschedule
3E163865-72E5-437E-81DD-51C4796AF901.png (388.23 KiB) Viewed 981 times

Virgin Atlantic has taken the difficult decision to delay the restart of its London Heathrow to Orlando service and it will now resume on 24th August 2020. Our seasonal services from Glasgow and Belfast to Orlando will now resume in summer 2021. We will continue to monitor our network on an ongoing basis and expect more flights from London Heathrow and Machester to resume in September and October 2020.

Oh dear. That’s many, many thousands of bitterly disappointed families who won’t be going to Disney this summer who’ll now have to join the long queue for a refund.

IMHO VS was extremely unwise ever to put a date on MCO flights restarting (and still is) when it’s totally beyond its control.

I can only hope, as I said at the time, that VS had inside information that led it to firmly believe it would be allowed to fly into MCO on July 20th, and that it’s slipped back due to the surge in Covid cases in Florida.

Any other explanation would be reckless at best, given how much customer goodwill was at stake and has probably just been lost.