Boeings going / Possible VS route changes

[mitchja]

Does anyone think (and I have heard rumours) that the 787s might be gone sooner rather than later. Would Airbus taken them in return for A350 orders. I don't think VS would have taken them in the Delta era.

I am watching for more second hand A330s.

I doubt that is true at all, however look out for some route news on Monday.

3 affected routes one very surprising announcement about one of them.

Sorry for being cloak and dagger but nothing has been announced externally.

I doubt that is true at all, however look out for some route news on Monday.

3 affected routes one very surprising announcement about one of them.

Sorry for being cloak and dagger but nothing has been announced externally.

With the greatest of respects I've come to ignore any kind of route "rumours".

A couple of years ago someone posted on this forum that a triumphant return to Tokyo (albeit to Haneda) was all set to be announced, and back in January a MAN-DEL joint venture with 9W was on the cards but has since fizzled out.

Your source must be getting very confused.

Why would Airbus take a Boeing plane (let alone the 17 the VS has in service and which are new) in return for additional A350 orders? I really don't see that happening.

IIRC the B787 orders were placed well before DL bought the SQ stake in VS

VS is replacing the B747s with A350s though

I doubt that is true at all, however look out for some route news on Monday.

3 affected routes one very surprising announcement about one of them.

Sorry for being cloak and dagger but nothing has been announced externally.

One of them wouldn’t happen to involve an airport and aircraft switch would it?

I doubt that is true at all, however look out for some route news on Monday.

3 affected routes one very surprising announcement about one of them.

Sorry for being cloak and dagger but nothing has been announced externally.

With the greatest of respects I've come to ignore any kind of route "rumours".

A couple of years ago someone posted on this forum that a triumphant return to Tokyo (albeit to Haneda) was all set to be announced, and back in January a MAN-DEL joint venture with 9W was on the cards but has since fizzled out.

No problem but you’ll see I’m right, I work for Virgin and I’ve read it on our intranet.

I doubt that is true at all, however look out for some route news on Monday.

3 affected routes one very surprising announcement about one of them.

Sorry for being cloak and dagger but nothing has been announced externally.

One of them wouldn’t happen to involve an airport and aircraft switch would it?

Someone is in the know I’m thinking

LGW to LHR is the airport move and I presume its to better compete with BA and get some AFKL interline when that deal gets up an running.

I do love a good rumour...if I had to guess an LGW to LHR route switch I would put my money on Vegas and coming from left field Havana given BA not flying the route and more options for connections from heathrow. Would be good of course to see new routes spring up but I think realistically VS new routes these days are just Delta-heavy cities/hubs.

I doubt that is true at all, however look out for some route news on Monday.

3 affected routes one very surprising announcement about one of them.

Sorry for being cloak and dagger but nothing has been announced externally.

One of them wouldn’t happen to involve an airport and aircraft switch would it?

An increased frequency
A decreased frequency
And an airport switch

Let the speculation begin! Haha

I love a bit of speculation!
I wonder whether it could be a switch from LHR to LGW to free up a slot for an increased frequency from LHR...?

I love a bit of speculation!
I wonder whether it could be a switch from LHR to LGW to free up a slot for an increased frequency from LHR...?

Its a LGW route moving to LHR.

....interesting!

I love a bit of speculation!
I wonder whether it could be a switch from LHR to LGW to free up a slot for an increased frequency from LHR...?

Hmm... the obvious route to move from LHR to LGW would be the DXB one IMO, as it's very leisure-centric & reportedly filled quite nicely by Virgin Holidays. This would, however, mean the LGW Clubhouse & V-Room would need to have their opening hours extended (or just close after the last morning / early afternoon VS departure, then re-open again later on for the DXB flight).

This would free up a slot-pair for LHR with a 16:00ish arrival and a 22:30ish departure.

The DXB Route was my first thought. Is it definitely confirmed that it’s a switch TO LHR?
Agree about the lounge situation, unless they were to move the departure time to an AM...

It is definitely a LGW to LHR switch.

The DXB Route was my first thought. Is it definitely confirmed that it’s a switch TO LHR?
Agree about the lounge situation, unless they were to move the departure time to an AM...

Thinking about it - an AM departure to DXB would probably suit a lot of V-Hols customers, as they would arrive in DXB after hotel check-in time, as opposed to several hours before. It'd save them the cost of an extra nights stay if they want room access straight away.

It probably would, but the current schedule suits VS as DXB and the other late departures balance nicely with the arrivals from SFO & LAX, ensuring optimal use of the fleet.

Again, the swap being announced on Monday is LGW to LHR, not vice versa.

[mitchja]

My guess would be BGI moving to LHR as VS have already tested the water with this one.

BGI would be my guess. Dropping SEA to make room for it - remember its schedule has just changed and that would suit BGI now wouldn't it?

In terms of DXB it would be easy to assume a move out of LHR but slots just don't make it sensible - its filled with VHols and connecting traffic onto the US seems pretty good as well so I can't see it going anywhere.

So my guess:
Airport Switch - BGI to LHR
Decreased Freq - SEA
Increased Freq - JFK out of LGW filling the BGI slot

Would be a shame to see SEA go already, nice city that carries the same quirky vibes as VS.

I know there have been rumblings about poor performance on the route, has that been verified though? Was that the logic behind the switch to the A330? (Apologies if I’ve missed a thread that definitely stated this already).

Increased Freq - JFK out of LGW filling the BGI slot

well would be going back to the origins of VS. I could be tempted if this were to happen.

But there is competition from Norwegian and BA.

BA would be more worried with the competition as the main complaints are that BA cancel the flight on a regular basis and they use old planes with poor IFE and they don't (yet) have the new CW bedding and food. They would have to step up their game and spend some money!

DXB is not in any of the frequency changes or airport swaps... its only USA routes that are effected and thats all I'll say until its officially announced - but that gives you a better idea of the route being airport swapped