v:port on LGW aircraft?

any news/whispers rumours?? on when v port will be installed into all lgw 747's??


{edited - preiffer : changed title to be slightly clearer}

Originally posted by finbar
any news/whispers rumours?? on when v port will be installed into all lgw 747's??

From what I gather - its seemingly unlikely. At a cost of over £2m per aircraft to upgrade to VPORT it would be an expensive exercise. It was a constant rant of mine for a while but I just cant see it happening - shame because it does dilute the product ex LGW/MAN IMO [:(!]

thnsk jimmy mc
you'd think mr branson n the virgin group would keep up with the times and their competitors and upgrade !! poor show [:(!]

ive found the v port so so much better than the other systems and as a heavy user at gatwick shame i/we come across them very rarely.

I think there may be a tipping point in the future - BA are due to upgrade their aircraft to an AVOD system soon, together with other cabin changes. This may put pressure on Virgin to standardise equipment.

Certainly, this is something that I would have in my top 3 'things to do' for Virgin.

Thanks,

David.

i am going to barbados nect month so does this mean the in flight entertainment is not avod? you would imagine in this day and age an airline trying to claim its amongst the best worldwide would be up too date - we are flying uc and at least on most other airlines they have an alternative as in private video / dvd - virgin certainly advertise on their website of a very up to date system -- so any ideas what i will have flying to barbados then ?

keith

[preiffer]

Keith, typically, all LGW or MAN flights have the "Super Nova" system. This is not AVOD.

You *might* be lucky on your flight, on the day - but this would be a rare exception.

Originally posted by porsche911
so any ideas what i will have flying to barbados then ?

It's not an exact science due to operational chnages - but if you look here and select your flight number, it'll give you an idea of what's been flying the route for the last 3 months, along with the IFE type used.

Cheers

Michael

They do have DVD's in UC as well.

I suppose with the deliveries of the 'buses and the freeing up of the LHR jumbos, there is a chance that they might migrate to LGW[:?]

Originally posted by Dave Adkins
I suppose with the deliveries of the 'buses and the freeing up of the LHR jumbos, there is a chance that they might migrate to LGW[:?]

And then more older IFEs on to Manchester, shame about this rotation and deteriotion ... perhaps time for Virgin to put their money in their mouths and standardise this service to meet the claim to be the best!

Be good for LGW though if some VPort 747s were there.

Do you think Virgin can afford not to install V-port on its LGW flights, especialy those to MCO. I'm pretty sure Virgin can afford the £2million per plane and if they don't i think they are going to start loosing customers to the likes of First choice with their new refurbed planes.

HOw many planes do they actually have without V port now???. I take it those planes without are not planned to be de-commisioned anytime soon so it would make sense to keep up with the times

im sure mr branson can afford it !!!!!![}:)]

I really don't see the big deal with V:Port. Yes it is a VERY nice system to have and I loved the flights I have taken with V Port fitted aircraft, but I don't think that
a) people quote this as high on their agenda when choosing an airline to fly
b) Nova and Oddysey are that bad, they still provide you with a flight full of entertainment (as long as the films are what you like)

With the advent of portable DVD players and PSPs etc, then if you feel that strongly about VOD then take your own entertainment. This is what I do, but the last 2 LGW flights I have taken I have not needed to use my own players as the IFE was sufficient.

Oh, and btw, when I did fly on a V PORT aircraft the text message system was aweful. If you received anything mid-film it stopped the film which couldn't be resumed (You have to FFWD through to the bit where you left off).

Paul

[preiffer]

Agreed, Paul.

The other thing to bear in mind is one of the key features of AVOD is that frequent travellers don't get stuck with the same films flight after flight. There aren't *that* many frequent (more than once a month) passengers on the B&S routes (yourself excluded!) - so it's not like they'll have seen everything on offer.

I don't even fly more than once a month on the B&S routes and am inclined to agree with you.

Paul

[HighFlyer]

When i flew out to LAX in December on the A343, my first thought on seeing Odyssey was 'Oh bummer, no V.Port' ... but in all honesty i didnt actually even switch the IFE on for the whole flight. I think we do take AVOD for granted at times, even on Nova there are still plenty of channels with recent movies to watch. Sometimes we forget how lucky we are - it wasnt that long ago that having your own seat back TV was a novelty.

If you look at comments on this site and the Disney forums at lot of people ask about games/entertainment system on the aircraft. So while it may not be the most important factor it is obviously in their mind together with cost/legroom etc.. If there is not much in the cost then a couple of inches more legroom, better entertainment, amentity kits might have more bearing on the decision.

I agree, people on B & S routes don't tend to do them often but they are a client group that mainly consists of families who are in need of entertaining. Games would have been a godsend on our flight last year as would have been VOD, then at least i could have paused the films when i had to deal with the children. I know we can take our own DVD players and hand held games but with 2 kids and all the junk that comes with us we coul do without the extra equipment.

I really want to fly Virgin next year because i want the flexibility of booking a flydrive holiday, plus i am very confident in Virgin's planes, reliability and the fact i can fly whatever day of the week i want. First choice do do flight only but they are ridiculously priced and only costs a couple hundred more for a disney hotel for 21 nights, however the managable cost of their premium star class along with their new entertainment syastem does make them very attractive.

somebody mentioned that virgin in upper class offer dvd players - is there a good list of movies as well as the standard tv options - this is based on the gatwick flight to barbados

Having flown many times from Gatwick to Orlando I have never experienced the V-Port and what u dont have u dont miss I guess. I would say however that having a flight half full of kids (including one of my own) the flight would be far better for parents with an on board games system. Having said that I have found the Nova has offered plenty to watch and always entertained me for the entire flight.

Originally posted by mia
Having flown many times from Gatwick to Orlando I have never experienced the V-Port and what u dont have u dont miss I guess. I would say however that having a flight half full of kids (including one of my own) the flight would be far better for parents with an on board games system. Having said that I have found the Nova has offered plenty to watch and always entertained me for the entire flight.

I never know what system it is - am always just glad to have one that works!

I blame this website for being so interesting and user friendly. I amaze myself with the knowledge I gain sometimes lol

Maria

Originally posted by mia
I blame this website for being so interesting and user friendly. I amaze myself with the knowledge I gain sometimes lol

Maria

LOL Maria - when I find myself regurgitating it to glazed-faced people, I'll know when to be worried!

[:o)]Has G-VAST just being fitted with new cabin seats & V-Port on her A-Check in Amsterdam
Is this the start of V-Port roll out for LGW/MAN?[:w]

Originally posted by wood07
If you look at comments on this site and the Disney forums at lot of people ask about games/entertainment system on the aircraft. So while it may not be the most important factor it is obviously in their mind together with cost/legroom etc.. If there is not much in the cost then a couple of inches more legroom, better entertainment, amentity kits might have more bearing on the decision.

But these very same people then go and book flights with "Old Aircraft R Us" airlines and "Ttavelling Chavs Direct" because they are £10 cheaper even though sometimes these airlines have only a cabin screen, not seat back IFE's and they have to pay for everything as an extra apart from their seat [:(!]