Bye Bye To Little Red But Yes Please To 3rd Run-Way
Users of domestic UK flights will be disappointed as Virgin Atlantic has announced plans to scrap its recently-launched domestic airline, Little Red, after just 18 months.
The struggling carrier, which took over slots from BMI, has tried in vain to fill sufficient seats on its flights linking London Heathrow with Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Manchester.
The airline’s daily services to Manchester will end in March; its Scottish services will cease in September. The valuable slots will revert to arch-rivals British Airways unless another bidder comes forward.
Some reports suggest that the airline was running at little more than a third full during the quieter months
Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin Atlantic president, claimed the venture had benefited consumers but “the odds were stacked against us”.
Little Red launched in March 2013 after European competition authorities made British Airways relinquish Heathrow slots for domestic flying after its takeover of BMI.
While more than a million passengers have flown on its domestic routes, Virgin Atlantic admitted that demand had been predominantly from point-to-point customers rather than the connecting traffic it had hoped for, feeding more passengers on to its more profitable long-haul routes.
The Virgin Atlantic chief executive, Craig Kreeger, said: “Little Red came about through an enduring passion at Virgin Atlantic to make a difference for our customers. We really wanted it to be a success and everyone involved worked extremely hard and has given it their best efforts.
“It was always a huge challenge on behalf of the consumer, as the totally inadequate number of slots made available by the European commission did not deliver close to BA’s network position, even when supplemented by our own slots to fly between Heathrow and Manchester. The time lag between the takeover of BMI and our entering the market also meant Little Red initially faced an uphill battle to win recognition and convert customers to its services.”
Little Red was operated for Virgin Atlantic by Ireland’s Aer Lingus on a wet lease basis, meaning that the Dublin-based carrier supplied the crew and the aircraft, albeit in Virgin colours.
Also, this week:…
…Virgin God Sir Richard Branson showed his support for expansion at Heathrow. The head of Virgin Atlantic, which operates out of both Heathrow and Gatwick, said that it was the “logical choice” for any new runway – although he would ideally like to see them at both airports.
“I’ve always said that I think Heathrow is where people want to fly from. Heathrow is where all the businesses are set up and that is certainly our ideal first choice,” he said
Speaking at a press conference in Atlanta to promote their new Dreamliner, he said that Virgin Atlantic continuously had to make tough decisions over its network because of the runway restrictions.
“At the moment at Heathrow if we wanted to do a new route we’d have to close a current route, we have no other choice. There are no other slots at Heathrow.”
The debate goes on. To keep up to date with Heathrow’s expansion campaign please visit; http://your.heathrow.com/takingbritainfurther
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Source: Heathrownews.com
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