Virgin Atlantic wins UK short haul flying slots

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Virgin Atlantic has announced that it has been offered all of the Heathrow short haul remedy slots available following International Airline Group’s acquisition of bmi.

Richard Branson’s airline stated that its business case was based on one airline operating a package of remedy slots so it could mount a credible challenge to BA’s short haul flying to Heathrow. Without the remedy slots, BA would continue to fly from Scotland to Heathrow uncontested but Virgin Atlantic said today that domestic flyers would now have a compelling alternative.

Virgin Atlantic’s CEO, Steve Ridgway said: “We have fought hard for the right to fly short haul and take a strong challenge to British Airways within these shores. For 28 years both airlines have battled for customers all over the world and it has meant that British consumers have ultimately had some of the world’s best flying and lowest fares.

“This is the beginning of an exciting new era in Virgin Atlantic history and we now feel a responsibility to everyone that has supported us in this challenge. Passengers can look forward to a great short haul service with us but most importantly reap the benefits from the re-injection of vital competition we can provide on these routes.”

Over the next two weeks, Virgin Atlantic will work to finalise its plans for utilisation of the available remedy slots and to confirm a flying timetable. The airline will primarily focus on its flying between Scotland and Heathrow, running multiple daily flights.

Flights will commence around March 31st 2013 and complement the new Heathrow to Manchester route the airline is also introducing next year. Virgin Atlantic will be working with a wet lease partner to provide narrow body Airbus A320 aircraft to operate these short haul flights.

Virgin Atlantic will be revealing specific details of its short haul product and famed on board customer experience in the coming months.

Virgin Atlantic Nov. 19, 2012

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Avion Express to operate Virgin Atlantic domestic routes

Avion Express (X9, Vilnius International (VNO)) will operate three A320-200s on behalf of Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow (LHR)) from March 2013 as part of Virgin Atlantic's plan to launch domestic flights from London Heathrow to Aberdeen Dyce (ABZ), Edinburgh (EDI) and Manchester Ringway International (MAN).

Source: ch-aviation

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Virgin Atlantic signed an agreement to wet lease Aer Lingus A320s (including crew) for domestic UK services. The aircraft will be Virgin branded.

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Virgin Atlantic announced it will launch a regional carrier, Little Red, beginning March 31. The new carrier, which will use four Airbus A320s leased from Aer Lingus, will offer 26 daily flights between London Heathrow and Manchester, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Virgin Atlantic is taking over the routes as remedy slots that British Airways was forced to cede to maintain competition on UK domestic sectors after its parent company International Airlines Group took over bmi.

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First A320 in Virgin Atlantic colours (and with Irish registration of course):

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=7578692

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First Virgin Atlantic domestic flight today between London Heathrow and Edinburgh. Take-off from LHR:

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Virgin Atlantic will end the Little Red flights, operated on its behalf by Aer Lingus, during summer 2015. The London Heathrow – Manchester route will close at the end of March 2015 and the links from the UK capital to Aberdeen and Edinburgh at the end of September 2015, just two years after launching the services after securing the lucrative Heathrow Airport slots.

According to Virgin Atlantic, the demand has been predominantly in direct – point-to-point – customers rather than anticipated connecting traffic. High levels of connections onto Virgin Atlantic’s long haul network have always been important to the success of the business.