A330-200 Routes

I think it’s being rather harsh on Virgin to criticise them in these circumstances. They don’t want 787’s sitting outside maintenance hangars but the reality is that RR don’t have the shop space to repair them.

An aircraft can’t fly with two of the affected serial number engines and new engines can’t be sourced. The existing engines therefore need fixes that require extensive shop time and RR don’t have that capacity.

Many airlines would simply cover the 787 issues by utilising the likes of Hi-Fly to provide wet leased aircraft to cover such issues, providing a vastly inferior product.

Instead Virgin with help from RR have taken aircraft, painted them in full colour scheme and given a Virgin refresh to what is a industry standard lie flat business seat (I believe I read somewhere it is the same design as the Emirates business class seat). The economy seating configuration is on par with their own offering. The IFE system also seems fairly decent and modern.

I’m not sure of the specifics but I’m sure there will be new seat covers, cushions, and carpets and possibly even the mood lighting.

The aircraft will just be another Virgin aircraft to all but the most educated and informed customer. Of course the lack of PE is dissapointing. As the company have said, they can’t just source PE seats in 2-3 months. There are really long lead times on new seats. If they simply could pick them off the shelf they would, as they are really good revenue earners. Of course they lack a bar but so does B747 G-VBIG.

I honestly think Virgin should be applauded for the way they are handling this unfortunate situation. It would be great if after the 787 issues are sorted these aircraft get used to open additional services from MAN to Asia, the US and
Caribbean, that may have less premium demand than their existing MAN flights.

Well said.

[buns]

I think it’s being rather harsh on Virgin to criticise them in these circumstances. They don’t want 787’s sitting outside maintenance hangars but the reality is that RR don’t have the shop space to repair them.

An aircraft can’t fly with two of the affected serial number engines and new engines can’t be sourced. The existing engines therefore need fixes that require extensive shop time and RR don’t have that capacity.

Many airlines would simply cover the 787 issues by utilising the likes of Hi-Fly to provide wet leased aircraft to cover such issues, providing a vastly inferior product.

Instead Virgin with help from RR have taken aircraft, painted them in full colour scheme and given a Virgin refresh to what is a industry standard lie flat business seat (I believe I read somewhere it is the same design as the Emirates business class seat). The economy seating configuration is on par with their own offering. The IFE system also seems fairly decent and modern.

I’m not sure of the specifics but I’m sure there will be new seat covers, cushions, and carpets and possibly even the mood lighting.

The aircraft will just be another Virgin aircraft to all but the most educated and informed customer. Of course the lack of PE is dissapointing. As the company have said, they can’t just source PE seats in 2-3 months. There are really long lead times on new seats. If they simply could pick them off the shelf they would, as they are really good revenue earners. Of course they lack a bar but so does B747 G-VBIG.

I honestly think Virgin should be applauded for the way they are handling this unfortunate situation. It would be great if after the 787 issues are sorted these aircraft get used to open additional services from MAN to Asia, the US and
Caribbean, that may have less premium demand than their existing MAN flights.

Well said.

+1
Completely with SlimpyJones, I bet VS are just as disappointed as the rest of us not to be able to use their much heralded 787

buns

[mitchja]

How many VS 789’s are actually out of service at the minute?

How many VS 789’s are actually out of service at the minute?

At least two I think. Both sat over by T4.

Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.

What are the registrations of the affected 789's? anybody know?

Yes it is disappointing but I would rather support Virgin who have shown a commitment to Manchester, giving a better range of direct destinations, than BA who have ditched Manchester and forced us to route through LHR.

Yes it is disappointing but I would rather support Virgin who have shown a commitment to Manchester, giving a better range of direct destinations, than BA who have ditched Manchester and forced us to route through LHR.

Absolutely. Well said.

G-VYUM has been Parked at Heathrow since 29th Sept and G-VWHO since 7th Oct.
I think we all agree that some action had to be taken, and what transpired was probably optimum under the circumstances, but it seems that the PE holiday traffic from LGW and MAN are the only ones suffering.
I for another won't be booking VA for next year's holiday.

I’m a hugely proud Northerner who has grown up loving and flying from MAN all my life. As a local I’m well aware of the ability of the North to support premium traffic and Emirates have well and truly proved me right.

But despite that evidence it would be utterly foolish to place less premium aircraft at Heathrow the expense of MAN and LGW.

This is not a North/South divide issue as Gatwick are affected in the same way. In fact MAN has gained a 747 on JFK, which could easily have been switched to LGW to retain PE on all their flights but they chose to protect it on JFK and MCO from MAN at the expense of LGW Beach routes. Heathrow routes aren’t beach routes and as such need their more premium dense aircraft and it would be just crazy to suggest otherwise

Just logged into our flights to grenada in september and the a330-200, is now showing. Anyone have any pictures of the interiors? Also what is the entertainment system like?

[mitchja]

There are a few pics knocking around online. Whilst the IFE isn’t VERA, I believe it is still AVOD with WiFi though. The system is called Zodiac.

Does anyone happen to know if this aircraft is operating the LGW-ANU (VS33 / VS34) routes early next year? Looking at the Virgin Atlantic website is shows PE as 'no seats available' and the UC prices are roughly three times as much as we have paid for the last three years running...

Whilst we wouldn't consider flying BA Club (would rather sit in BA economy and save the cash for the other end!)...we also don't like the look/sound of the Virgin A330-200s either.

We’ve just got back from a week in the states and flew these aircraft both ways in upper.

Very disappointed and I doubt I’d knowingly book onto one again.

The seat layout looked a lot better on paper for a couple traveling together. But, whilst it’s easier to chat to the person next to you, everything else is much much worse than standard UC cabins. The seats are so cramped, sleeping is next to impossible. Even sitting upright I felt completely squashed around my shoulders. The general look is pretty dated and shabby too.

IFE is fine, didn’t work on the way back but I was hoping to sleep any way so I wasn’t too bothered.

The food service on the outbound was terrible, easily the worst I’ve ever had on virgin.

Overall very disappointing, I will actively avoid these planes in future.

My parents recently flew ATL -> MAN on a 332 and gave it an even worse review than etk. Absolutely hated it!

Neither of them could sleep in the 'love' seats, both of them feeling very squashed whether laid flat or sat up. Comments from fellow pax were along the same lines. My Dad moved to a spare 'C' seat and said it was a marginal improvement in space but that he was bumped everytime someone went by. And even my mum who was now alone in the love seat said it wasn't much better because she was still hard up against the side of the divider on her left. They said the food service seemed difficult for the crew, but I guess that might be just getting familiar with the new aircraft. They fly to Florida at least 4 times a year and frequently travel back from RSW via ATL (always UC) but will definitely not be doing so while the 332 remains in its current config.

I am MAN based and fly 5 or 6 times a year to destinations in the US that always require a connection, so the MAN -> ATL route is my most frequent. My employer has an economy only travel policy at present and I have noticed a few things since the introduction of the 332:

• Virtually no G's available for the whole year for either MAN -> ATL or ATL -> MAN. I mean I actually went through about 8 months and found 2 I think.
• They consistently want significantly more money for my routes that include a flight on a 332 in UC while Y prices are consistent regardless of aircraft type. For e.g. MAN - MCO - SLC is circa £4k and MAN - ATL - SLC is circa £5.5k. The exception seems to be routes using MAN - SFO.

I understand Virgin had to do something to avoid a multitude of possible cancellations due to the 787 engine issues. But just as they had managed to get a consistent experience for all cabins across the whole fleet, they introduce theses 332's. And again it's the MAN and LGW routes that suffer. While I concede that even if I were making the decisions down in Crawley I would probably choose to protect LHR, you can't help but feel frustrated as a MAN based flyer. And then to charge more for UC versus other aircraft types (at least for the routes I fly) seems a bit ridiculous. I can't help but think they're asking for trouble after people find out they've paid significantly more money than their last flight for what is looking to be an inferior product.

Routes Online have summarised the planned A330-200 operations for this summer, most of which were reported on here before. It also confirms that MAN-JFK is fully 747-operated from mid-May to mid-Oct, MAN-ATL will drop to 6/weekly from end of May along with not seeing 747's now.

Basically, as far as MAN is concerned this summer it seems to be 747's for MCO, JFK and LAS, with A330-200's for everything else (BOS/SFO/ATL/BGI).

Still nothing yet regarding their use beyond the end of the summer season. My MAN-JFK flight in late-November is still showing as A330-300 and relevant seat maps with no PE available.

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... f-22mar18/

Oh dear! We are on a 332 from man to sfo at the end of May. Must admit I have been dreading the reports on the 332’s. It’s not looking promising for our first Trip to SFO. Must admit I haven’t told Mrs S that we are not going on a traditional Virgin plane which we love. Recently went to Dubai on Emirates business class and she thought the seat was very narrow compared to the Virgin seat and she had trouble in sleeping when the bed was flat . That was 7 hours not 11!

I'm taking my first UC 332 flight to Atlanta in May so am curious. I'm flying solo so will be able to let my OH know what it's like before our SFO roundtrip in July. I don't mind if its a temporary measure, but really hope they get it sorted as soon as possible; the lack of PE from MAN is an issue for us :(

[mitchja]

The rumours I’ve heard (and I stress these are *only rumours*) is that they will be getting Premium Economy (and apparently now also proper Upper Class as well) from October this year.

As a MAN based VS flyer here, I am avoiding flying on these A332’s until they get the same VS on-board product as the rest of the fleet.

My ATL / JFK MAN based flights for Dec/Jan are also still showing an A333 also with Premium not being sold. Interestingly though the flight home from JFK already shows 19 seats selected in J and VS are still selling J fares so who knows what will happen if the A/C does switch to an A332 and there’s more than 18 J pax? The ATL flight is wide open so far in J.

That might explain why nothing is out in the public domain yet regarding which flights are going to be A330-200 operated. Will the fleet have enough slack to cover for them being out for refit during the winter months?

I have heard from a reliable source that they are getting Prem and a wonder wall area plus a version of a new Upper Seat but not the dream suite on the 789/333 - instead a delta style seat similar to what they have currently but in VS colours. Aircraft will filter through 1 per month starting in August (I’m sure my source said August) going to China (as per 333 refits).

I have heard from a reliable source that they are getting Prem and a wonder wall area plus a version of a new Upper Seat but not the dream suite on the 789/333 - instead a delta style seat similar to what they have currently but in VS colours. Aircraft will filter through 1 per month starting in August (I’m sure my source said August) going to China (as per 333 refits).

Interesting. I have heard through one FSM that a new UC seat will come with the A350s next year. A Delta style seat would be welcomed as I do like them.

On our flight back earlier this week from ATL the crew said the refit would include a new style Upper the same as being fitted to the A350s and refitting was due from September.

If these rumours are true and the differing number of sources suggest they are, wouldn’t it be in VS interest to officially announce it so people could book with confidence. I am also reluctant to book from Manchester and my grown up kids who normally fly PE have booked with a rival carrier.

They could, but from past experience it’s best not to publicly promise something that you end up failing to deliver. Only announce something when you’re sure it’ll happen.

May be a dumb question but why didn't they just use the A340s that they have been retiring instead of these old Air Berlin planes? Less fuel efficient probably, but surely Rolls Royce will be compensating. It must also be costing a huge amount to do all these planned refurbs to the Air Berlin A300s so is it really that cost effective given that many loyal customers will now be avoiding Virgin due to the lack of PE.