LGW Refits FAQ

Any news on G-VAST yet ? It's longer then the 3 weeks quoted and it's a good gauge to see how the learning curve is going - plus it give me an idea to work out my chances of getting a re-furb plane on VS93 11/9

[Neil]

Any news on G-VAST yet ? It's longer then the 3 weeks quoted and it's a good gauge to see how the learning curve is going - plus it give me an idea to work out my chances of getting a re-furb plane on VS93 11/9

No news as of yet. I'm not sure where the 3 weeks per a/c thing came from, but as ROM took just over 6 I think it is very optimistic to expect the next to only take 3.

I was wondering that too Neil

Where did the 3-week period come from? I can't recall seeing it on any VS official pronouncement

Except I just saw this page on the VS website Our re-fitted 747's where is says they are aiming to refit one every FOUR weeks.

Not sure how long that page has been there though as as usual VS don't date stamp their web pages.

The 3 weeks come from the reporter in this video:-

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2012-0 ... ck-jumbos/

but then one of the employees says 4 weeks. The VA Facebook page says a month.

If it takes 6 weeks rather than 3/4 quoted that is not a "tight schedule" as described in the video.

Working in a similar environment to the company doing the refurbs, I would expect to see some sort of learning curve on the installation. The first Installation is always a Proof Installation and invariably always takes longer. As a rule of thumb, half the time for steady state against a PI would be the norm.

Granted, They are not at "steady state" yet on A/C 2, however I would certainly expect the time taken to be significantly less than the PI. 4 weeks seems about right for A/C 2 - which means it should be about ready.......

Hopefully ready to whisk me to LAS early next week 8D

I know Barbarella went over stripped of all seats and internals....but I never saw it mentioned the Ladybird had "suffered" the same fate.
Maybe thats why its taking longer?

[Neil]

I know Barbarella went over stripped of all seats and internals....but I never saw it mentioned the Ladybird had "suffered" the same fate.
Maybe thats why its taking longer?

She almost certainly went over with seats still on as she was operating pax flights only a couple of days before she flew to HKG.

Hi

I'm new on these forums so I apologise if this has already been answered in a different post.

Does anyone have anymore news on Ladybird?

Has it finished its refit yet and does anyone know roughly when it will be coming back into service?

Me and my partner fly to Barbados on the 21st of July and while I've flown with Virgin a few times my partner has never flown with them. It would be nice to be on a newly refurbished plane.

I know it's going to be the luck of the draw but there is more chance if 2 are back in operation.

Thanks

[Neil]

Welcome.

The situation regarding G-VAST and her return date is still unknown I am afraid. There is no set date for her return and there is nothing currently showing as future planned in the schedules so I wouldn't expect her back for a good few days at the absolute earliest, and it could quite easily be another couple of weeks, all you can do is keep your eye out for any news.

Thanks,
Neil

Apologies if this question has already been answered!!

Are all the refits going to be the same layout i.e. economy in the bubble. If this is the case PE does not have any exit seats (hubby usually tries to bag one of these as he is 6'4 and rather a large chap). We could have took a gamble and gone for economy and tried to bag the exit seats for a lot less?

However knowing my luck this it would be highly unlikely for this to happen LOL

[Neil]

Yes, all the refitted a/c will have the same layout/config, so there will be no PE exit row, just like the A346 a/c.

There will be PE bulkheads downstairs, which if they are anything like the bulkheads on the 2 config A330 would be good seats as they have a lot more legroom.

Hi bigshow, there is a slight upside for you if you're flying to Barbados, they sometimes fly one of the LHR birds in to cover for shortages in the LGW roster (English Rose in Frankfurt and Mustang Sally drafted in at the moment)and the LHR plane almost always get stuck on that route!
So not refurbished but smarter and V-Port fitted at least!

Hi muppster,

Thanks for the info.

Fingers crossed it is one of the LHR birds if its not one of the newly refurbished planes. Its my partners first time in Barbados and i'm taking her as a graduation present so i'd like it to be as memorable as possible.

Any news on G-VAST yet ? It's longer then the 3 weeks quoted and it's a good gauge to see how the learning curve is going - plus it give me an idea to work out my chances of getting a re-furb plane on VS93 11/9

No news as of yet. I'm not sure where the 3 weeks per a/c thing came from, but as ROM took just over 6 I think it is very optimistic to expect the next to only take 3.

Wasn't VROM repainted too? Where as VAST is already in the new colours so 4 weeks sounds reasonable.

VROM was painted in Manchester before heading out to Hong Kong for its refit. Flew from LGW to MAN on 28/03, spent 17 days at MAN before flying to HKG stripped of seats and internals, it then returned from HKG after just under 6 weeks, think it was delayed leaving HKG as its original date of 16/05 slipped back a bit. I think VAST ended up flying out on the 27th (?), again delayed from its proposed time by a few days, but that means its been gone 4 weeks already.

There is a flight plan listed in the updates, from Manilla to Manchester on the 28th of this month. Anyone have any ideas what this is for?

[Neil]

There is a flight plan listed in the updates, from Manilla to Manchester on the 28th of this month. Anyone have any ideas what this is for?

Nothing confirmed, but the A340 a/c get the 'heavy' checks in MNL so it will be one of those returning no doubt and then maybe heading to MAN for a re-paint?

There is a flight plan listed in the updates, from Manilla to Manchester on the 28th of this month. Anyone have any ideas what this is for?

Nothing confirmed, but the A340 a/c get the 'heavy' checks in MNL so it will be one of those returning no doubt and then maybe heading to MAN for a re-paint?

VSHY (Madame Butterfly) is in Manilla at the moment, but that was the frame listed for disposal first in the list of the four to leave this year with an availability date of July 2012..... End of Lease maintenance and checks maybe rather than a paint job....unless its being pained up for someone else already?

Maybe they are contracted to repaint in white before lease return.

Hi all, new member to the site. Although have been reading posts for a while.

We fly out to Orlando from Manchester on VS073 on 18th Sept 2012 and we are really hoping to get on a refurbed 747, Return flight is VS074 2nd October 2012. Our last VS experience was on Ladybird and Ruby Tuesday a few years back and we are hoping for a better experience this time as we were a bit disapointed with the service and IFE compared with other airlines we had flown with.

Hopefully a few more of the fleet will be complete by then as were still three months off at time of writing...I'll be keeping an eager eye on the completion list.

I see today Barbarella operated the MBJ flight - however it was delayed by about five hours... Does anyone know why this is?

I see today Barbarella operated the MBJ flight - however it was delayed by about five hours... Does anyone know why this is?

There were some problems over the weekend with some bad weeather in the north eastern USA, a fire at an FAA computer centre and also a problem with the Sabre flight planning tool that Virgin (and many other airlines as well) use that messed up a number of flights to varying degrees and it takes time to catch up

Still no news on Ladybird then? I wonder if they are having problems.

Where is MBJ? Jamaica? I looked on the flight status page this morning and there wasn't much in the way of information. Is that not a usual route that Virgin operate? Is she covering for another plane?

[honey lamb]

Where is MBJ? Jamaica? I looked on the flight status page this morning and there wasn't much in the way of information. Is that not a usual route that Virgin operate? Is she covering for another plane?

MBJ is Montego Bay in Jamaica. Virgin flies there twice-weekly on Wednesday and Sunday |:)

I see today Barbarella operated the MBJ flight - however it was delayed by about five hours... Does anyone know why this is?

There were some problems over the weekend with some bad weeather in the north eastern USA, a fire at an FAA computer centre and also a problem with the Sabre flight planning tool that Virgin (and many other airlines as well) use that messed up a number of flights to varying degrees and it takes time to catch up

Will this be affecting VS077 to Barbados too?