The Caribbean. New route possibilities?

Hey

In light of the recent BA expansion into more leisure routes i.e. MBJ and PUJ and to en extent LAS, Ive been musing the possibilities of future expansion. I know the market is very tough at the moment and I dont see VS expanding in the next 12-24 months but that could all change. Its always good to be prepared.

What are anybodys thoughts on the possibilities of starting any of the following routes:

LGW to:

Aruba
Bonaire
Curacao
St Martin
Cancun (after the swine flu dies down)
San Jose, Costa Rica

None of these routes have any Scheduled long haul airline operating them and some dont even have a direct UK link. I know that some are Dutch and French Antilles but there is the possibility of people wanting to try something different and see some different parts of the Caribbean. I for one have visited Aruba and St Martin and fell in love with the places! San Jose I threw in as wild card as Virgin Holidays seem to sell holidays there and there is no direct UK link so I could potentially see a small market there. These routes could even benefit from the locals wanting to visit Europe or the UK.

Im not sure about the viability of any of these routes in any economic climate so just wondered what anyones opinions would be!

I'd love to see VS offer a few more different destinations to BA!

Thanks

Ryan



Edit to thread title by mod........Nick

[buns]

Ryan

I am sure VS keep an eagle eye on trends and as you say, the link with VH can help them estimate future demand[:D][:D]

The recent addition of Puerto Rico to support the ever-increasing cruise market seems to be the smart move and the way of the future.

Purely based on the number of pages of adverts in the newspapers these day for cruising, (no matter what many of us might think about them[:w]) I am sure VS would jump at the chance of ferrying passengers to cruise lines who decide to move out of Ft Lauderdale and Port Canaveral to other Caribbean ports if it reduces costs[}:)]

just my 2 cents worth you understand - I am in no way an insider[:D][:D]

buns

Buns

Good point you raised there! It always amazes me where all the people to come from to fill these boats 52 weeks a year! I just hope that VS don't let this recession stop their expansion, they cant afford to get too far behind BA, and BA seems to be on to offensive especially on the leisure markets!

Ryan

Id love to see a Cancun and a St Martin but I don't think that St Martin would make much money as it's not really a place british tourists visit that much as its a French and Dutch speaking country. On the other hand I think there is room for a schedule service to Cancun and I would love to see if this happens in the future! And I also think that if Virgin were to start a South American route it would proberly be to somewhere in Brazil as the Brazilian cities are more well known.

[Scrooge]

quote:Originally posted by ryand


None of these routes have any Scheduled long haul airline operating them and some dont even have a direct UK link.
Thanks

Ryan




Just to correct you on that, St Marteen, the dutch half off the island and home to SXM has direct flights on KLM from Amsterdam, you can also one stop through a number of US cities.

The same holds true for Aruba.

Cancun has direct service through Air Europa, Austrian, Condor, Corsair, First Choice, Iberia, LTU, Martinair, Monarch, Mytravel and Thomas Cook, some of which are charters, but you can still buy a flight only ticket on them.

The same holds true with San Jose.

So yes while the UK has little direct service to a number of places it is not really correct to say that they have none of them have scheduled long haul ops.

Now that I am done splitting hairs, I don't think we will see any routes to places like these until the 787's come into the fleet, the aircraft that VS have now, with the exception of the 343's are just to much plane for the routes.

I'd love to see a VS 744 physically landing at SXM!!!

I too would love VS to fly into CUN since they advertise it from VH anyway, we always fly to JFK and take AA down the next day which is pretty inconvenient but even AA fist class & UC works out cheaper to JFK than flying straight to MIA, and there is very lttle G seat availability for when i want to go. Also considering the amount of brits out there i would have thought it would be perfect for VS

cheers

alex

[Scrooge]

Out of the list above I would say CUN has the best chance of any, but what route gets cut ? As I said before, the 788 will be the perfect aircraft to start the route.

I agree with you there Scrooge! I can see a Cancun flight fitting in perfectly for VS! There is the A340-300 Currently operating the MAN-BGI route this summer on Saturdays and Sundays. Doesnt that mean that on Mondays and Fridays it could do LGW-CUN?? I know in the winter it is required for the MRU route but Im sure something could be tweaked to arrange it.

Ryan

The Puerto Rico route is not actually on sale yet - so it could still be pulled...

quote:Originally posted by buns
Ryan

I am sure VS keep an eagle eye on trends and as you say, the link with VH can help them estimate future demand[:D][:D]

The recent addition of Puerto Rico to support the ever-increasing cruise market seems to be the smart move and the way of the future.

Purely based on the number of pages of adverts in the newspapers these day for cruising, (no matter what many of us might think about them[:w]) I am sure VS would jump at the chance of ferrying passengers to cruise lines who decide to move out of Ft Lauderdale and Port Canaveral to other Caribbean ports if it reduces costs[}:)]

just my 2 cents worth you understand - I am in no way an insider[:D][:D]

buns

I would say Puerto Plata or Santo Domingo would be good choices - Puerto Rico obviously and Male, Maldives. I'd also like to see Sri Lankan get some competition to Colombo and a direct alternative to Air Seychelles to Mahe. Cancun would be a sensible choice given the number of charter flights that already operate succesfully.

Oh, and Bermuda.

Thats my wishlist/2pence worth!

I would love to see the Nassau flight return. i am sure the low loads were due to the once a week VS flight and a Monday at that, flew on it twice, one was quite full and the other 2/3 full, the Bahamas has as much to offer as Barbados to the tourist and would save the change at mia

A NON-STOP service to Grenada would be excellent, ideally(1) in 747s from LGW with refurbished PE cabins and ideally(2) starting on the 11th March next year!!!!
[y]

quote:Originally posted by barnstaple
I would say Puerto Plata or Santo Domingo would be good choices - Puerto Rico obviously and Male, Maldives. I'd also like to see Sri Lankan get some competition to Colombo and a direct alternative to Air Seychelles to Mahe. Cancun would be a sensible choice given the number of charter flights that already operate succesfully.


BA just announced a direct flight to Male.

Really, any more details on the BA Maldives service???

Must admit a service to Cancun even if it had a stop somewhere in the Caribbean islands en route would be great. It is such a pain travelling to Miami and changing there finally arriving early evening!

I just feel that VS will sit tight for a while longer on any expenditure that isnt really needed.

Not sure if BA's website is having the heebeejeebies but the prices were astronomical for their flights to Male.................... 2k Each for World Traveller Plus return!!!! That's bad enough, especially if BA don't get round to upgrading their Gatwick 777's to AVOD. Club was 7k for 2.

[HighFlyer]

BA's website is only showing full fares at the moment for the new routes - at least, it was earlier anyway.

As for routes, I'd like to see direct flights to Cancun and the Caymans, though FLL would make sense for the cruises.

Thanks,
Sarah