V-Flyer

Well, I was on the phone to VS the other day and had a qite chatty person who made the observation that VS had planned, and probably are still planning, todeploy the A380 on the LGW-MCO route.

Whether they do this or not, whether they cancel the A380 order or not, this got me thinking.

Just suppose VS are getting an A380, how do you think it would be configured?

Where and how much UC/PE/econ...

I'm guessing that VS would need to think carefully, if they intend using it on the MCO route, they might make different decisions than if they were to use it on the HKG/SYD route - for example.

What else might we see on these planes? (wasn't there talk on sleeping cabins at one stage?)

Anyway, imagine away...

There was talk of a gym and a casino at one stage!
There is so much speculation on this and who knows if/when VS will get the whalejet into the fleet. I think they are quite happy getting discounts and concessions from Airbus for delays to the introduction and letting other customers jump the queue ahead of them.

Two London departures are supported for a fair whack of the year so would be a prime target.

yes showers, gym, casino, private rooms, sitting areas were all mentioned but v unlikly to extent to the Y cabin !

A Burger Kind was mentioned at one point.

Given the on-going delays, I doubt VS will ever get the A380, and to be honest, I wonder how long Airbus can keep building them.

Would that be a fly-through Bugger King?

tontybear wrote:Would that be a fly-through Bugger King?

is that the one where you go in through the rear ???

Darren Wheeler wrote:Given the on-going delays, I doubt VS will ever get the A380, and to be honest, I wonder how long Airbus can keep building them.

Darren, Could you elaborate on what you mean by, I wonder how long Airbus can keep building them?

Regards,

Dan

vsa380 wrote:

Darren Wheeler wrote:Given the on-going delays, I doubt VS will ever get the A380, and to be honest, I wonder how long Airbus can keep building them.

Darren, Could you elaborate on what you mean by, I wonder how long Airbus can keep building them?

Regards,

Dan

Airbus don't have any production slots for the A380 until something like 2018, so I'm not sure what your refer to Darren.

If carriers like Emirates and Singapore are setting theirs up with around 500 seats, I'd say a Virgin Gatwick-Orlando config would be knocking on for 650 seats.

tontybear wrote:yes showers, gym, casino, private rooms, sitting areas were all mentioned but v unlikly to extent to the Y cabin !

Now, Now - tut, tut - let's not be too elite-ist!!!!!!!! Anyway, wouldn't necessarily be true - afterall, if VS are trying to differentiate their service offering from other carriers, they'd be unwise to ignore the cattle in the back whose money is just as valuable and who can be just as loyal a customer, even if they aren't able, or don't choose, to pay for premium service.

Incidentally, did anyone else read an article a year or so back, reporting on a "Middle Eastern Dignitory" that bought an A380 as his private plane - now that really is decadence!! Bit that sticks in my mind was a comment from an environmental organisation "it's equivalent to buying a huge, coal-fired power station to charge your mobile phone".

Concorde

I was not being elitist.

Of course people in Y are valuable but tbh, and as is said here plenty of times, if you want a premium service it needs paying for. Space for e.g. a sitting area in Y would of course be nice but how many revenue earning seats would need to lost to make that space avaiable? How much extra would pax need to pay so that the operating airline still gets the same revenue to actually be able to operate the flight. And how many pax would be able to use such an area anyway? - I could soon see some stand up arguments over seat hogging.

Emirates lists the A380 has having 2 showers yet when you look more closely these are for 1st class only.

Unless the space used pays for itself - I could see a casino doing that...

tontybear wrote:Emirates lists the A380 has having 2 showers yet when you look more closely these are for 1st class only.

And they are kinda fun .

Concorde RIP wrote:

tontybear wrote:yes showers, gym, casino, private rooms, sitting areas were all mentioned but v unlikly to extent to the Y cabin !

Now, Now - tut, tut - let's not be too elite-ist!!!!!!!! Anyway, wouldn't necessarily be true - afterall, if VS are trying to differentiate their service offering from other carriers, they'd be unwise to ignore the cattle in the back whose money is just as valuable and who can be just as loyal a customer, even if they aren't able, or don't choose, to pay for premium service.

I could see perhaps a whole lower deck in Y, with an upper deck designed to pull in higher margin premium pax and the opportunity to upsell people from the lower deck.

A whole cabin of extra legroom Y at the back? A more spacious W cabin with a few rows of 'extra legroom W' - no more battles to get the bulkhead row in PE when they can charge extra for more room. J with the new generation Upper Class Suite, a larger bar area with some self service food, games, etc.

So VS was expecting the six A380s in 2013. Now it is expected in 2015 according to their site: http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/al ... /index.jsp

tonywestsider wrote:So VS was expecting the six A380s in 2013. Now it is expected in 2015 according to their site: http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/al ... /index.jsp

I don't think anyone seriously expects VS to take these ... perhaps a reappraisal when the extended LGW 747 leases expire, but I'm guessing that with the expensive refits those will be around for another 5 years+.

I wonder if it was me you spoke to....

The market may change 5 years from now. So if VS is unlikely to accept delivery of the A380 in 2015, I'd say they are less likelier to accept delivery of the 787 in 2013. I'd say VS will deploy more A330s beginning next year and beyond that. A380 deliveries will be inevitable at 2015 and after. If BA is getting A380s, then VS will get them sooner or later to remain competitive.

About 5 years ago I asked Virgin to tell me what they were planning for the A380, as I was originally planning to save miles for a mega luxurious trip on it, when they started flying.

They said they'd send me the outline plan. It came, as a Fax, showing a Seaworld, with Killer Whales, and a wild animal park upstairs, next to the Casino and concert hall

I 'think' they were joking -

Peter

Thinking about this, I wonder whether the recent A330s show us that the A380 is more likely?

My reasoning is that there is more commonality, and thus ease of cross-training etc, amongst A330/340/380, than there would be between, say, an A330 and a B787...

I wonder why VS continues (according to it's current set of orders and options with both Airbus and Boeing), to continue with a mixed fleet.....bargaining power??

I'd imagine there's more benefit to having an exclusively Boeing, or exclusinely Airbus fleet - afterall, half the reason that RyanAir (washes mouth out) manage to keep costs down across the board is the fact that they use B737-800s almost exclusively (it is the -800s isn't it?).

But, maybe the fact that SRB keeps both manufacturers "warm" and plays one off against the other is more economically advantageous......

Guess that's why I'm not an airline CEO....:-)