Clubhouse Manchester??

[mitchja]

No news yet as far as anyone is aware. First thing to look for will be a recruitment drive either directly with VS or MAG.

One thing worth mentioning is that the PremiAir terminal is due to re-open soon. I think I read May somewhere but no mention of prices for that yet.

Seems to be VS are dumping all their old planes again at Manchester so not really pushing this as a hub anymore!

Not strictly true as G-VNVR; VS’s newest A350 op’d the VS74 and VS73 yesterday to/from MAN. The summer season usually involves at least 1 x A350 op’ing MAN flights. Usually MCO, however, the VS 127 to JFK also got an A350 a few times last year as well.

No news yet as far as anyone is aware. First thing to look for will be a recruitment drive either directly with VS or MAG.

One thing worth mentioning is that the premier terminal is due to re-open soon. I think I read May somewhere but no mention of prices for that yet.

Seems to be VS are dumping all their old planes again at Manchester so not really pushing this as a hub anymore!

Not strictly true as G-VNVR; VS’s newest A350 op’d the VS74 and VS73 yesterday to/from MAN. The summer season usually involves at least 1 x A350 op’ing MAN flights. Usually MCO, however, the VS 127 to JFK also got an A350 a few times last year as well.

It has been a while since I have been on this forum... Was active back in '21/'22 as we were hoping for the new A350's leisure to be on the MAN-MCO route.

We are travelling on the neo from LHR-JFK in May this year but again looking for MCO in April '25.

Manchester is our preferred airport (somewhat reluctantly but based on distance being in Liverpool).... are there any plans for some of the newer planes to be on this route Spring '25?

[mitchja]

VS’s choice of A/C at MAN will be more based on pax & cargo loads as well as crewing capabilities as not all flight deck or cabin crews can work on all A/C type without extra training.

https://x.com/SPD_travels/status/177546 ... 62512?s=20

Doesn't look good if this is true.

David

The current best aircraft, at least in Upper, is the A339. Not a chance we’ll see those at Manchester until they get rid of all the -300’s but even they’ll send us the worst of what they’ve got. We do get the A350 in summer but only the leisure version with 16 Upper class seats. So if you’re looking for reward seats it’s the A330-300 or battling for 2 of 16 seats on the A350.
Some people like the A330-300 with its old style seating, personally I don’t.
So in conclusion, if you want the best experience, lounge and aircraft go to Heathrow. Oh and I doubt there’ll be any Virgin Clubhouse at Manchester until the second pier at T2 is built at the earliest, so summer 25 but no guarantees.

[mitchja]

Doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. The space is already there (next to the 1903/Escape lounge) as it briefly appeared on the MAN airport maps when the new new T2 first opened so a new VHols V:Room instead would be my first guess as I believe the old one was always well used at MAN.

It’s always been the case, if you want a premium check-in and lounge experience using VS, fly from LHR.

Like I mentioned before though, one option will be the PremiAir private terminal at MAN which is due to re-open this year .

If there was an embargo VS also realises its loyal passengers from MAN are going to be rather frustrated by their lack of commitment to the north.

I’ve kept supporting them in the hope that they would slowly bring what they promised to the fore. But now it seems if they don’t want to expand at Manchester it’s going to be hard to keep passengers happy.

Is the reality that the pandemic crippled VS’s ability to do what was planned at MAN (clubhouse, Virgin Connect, USA-India), and now IAG appear to be taking a greater interest in MAN that plan is likely to be very difficult to execute moving forward?

[mitchja]

I doubt it's got anything to do with IAG or what any other airline is doing or not doing.

More likely due to VS's own financial state judging by their 2023 report announced today (which is not all that great IMHO as those increasing debt levels are not a good sign). The leisure market is still not back to 2019 levels yet and that's what MAN's biggest market is and always will be.

VS73 has A351's

(I'm on one next week )

I doubt it's got anything to do with IAG or what any other airline is doing or not doing.

More likely due to VS's own financial state judging by their 2023 report announced today (which is not all that great IMHO as those increasing debt levels are not a good sign). The leisure market is still not back to 2019 levels yet and that's what MAN's biggest market is and always will be.

I’m not sure I agree with the first 11 words of the final sentence, the reports in the press all state VS crediting the leisure sector (which is the overwhelming majority of passengers wherever you go) as its major positive, with corporate demand at around 80% of pre-pandemic levels.

I think this is simply about protecting its existence and focusing on LHR - if anything else happens at MAN I don’t expect it will be by design, even if an additional 2-3 frames would make a significant difference to what it can offer.

Doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. The space is already there (next to the 1903/Escape lounge) as it briefly appeared on the MAN airport maps when the new new T2 first opened so a new VHols V:Room instead would be my first guess as I believe the old one was always well used at MAN.

It’s always been the case, if you want a premium check-in and lounge experience using VS, fly from LHR.

Like I mentioned before though, one option will be the PremiAir private terminal at MAN which is due to re-open this year .

Spot on

This was strongly hinted when my partner and I met Shai and Directors of Clubhouses last year (as I posted above)

The focus has to be on getting the finances in order first and with the huge US feeder route from TLV suspended it is hitting hard - Clubhouses in outer stations can, quite frankly, be put under the balance sheet line

Doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. The space is already there (next to the 1903/Escape lounge) as it briefly appeared on the MAN airport maps when the new new T2 first opened so a new VHols V:Room instead would be my first guess as I believe the old one was always well used at MAN.

I think bringing back a V:Room for VH guests might not be a bad shout, especially if other lounges are becoming more busy with passengers such as those who've bought On The Beach packages with lounge access included (see the current TV ad campaign with Paddy McGuinness narrating in his new-found capacity as the face of OTB).

If this is true, my next question is whether VS are still paying to lease the space or if it's been lapsed/surrendered. Given the losses made and the debt pile, it doesn't make business sense to be paying for something not being used and have no intentions of being used anytime soon.

That said, with T1 due to close next year and MAN's own press releases claiming around 80% will be flying out of T2 after that with T3 looking set to be almost exclusive to Ryanair (meaning BA will move), there is a risk that if VS gave up the space it might never get the opportunity to lease that or any other space for a CH in the future.

According to HfP VS cancel their Manchester Clubhouse plans…

https://www.headforpoints.com/2024/04/0 ... clubhouse/

“Following a review of our Clubhouse portfolio, a lounge in Manchester is no longer part of our future plans. We remain committed to our customers in Manchester, our home in the North, and to providing services to in-demand leisure destinations from the region, including a brand new direct service to Las Vegas which launches in June.”

From hfps

Well at least that settles one thing, No clubhouse,

we will have to see who takes over the space.

Their home in the north that they only visit once in a blue moon..

The positive talk is great but VS have repeated the same message for years. Since February 2020, LAX/ISB/DEL/BOM/LAS/BOS/MBJ have been binned - four years later, we're only just getting LAS back!

Now you can earn BA Tier Points on Aer Lingus, I think I might have to take the leap of faith..

Surprise that once again the northerners continue to get second rate service.

[mitchja]

Now you can earn BA Tier Points on Aer Lingus, I think I might have to take the leap of faith..

Do bear in mind though that EI use the same 1903 lounge at MAN in T2 for their longhaul flights so in terms of airport facilities EI & VS will be pretty much the same. Short haul EI flights fly from T1 and use the Aspire lounge. BA use the Escape lounge in T3 as they closed their own T3 lounge for good during COVID.

MAN is an utter mess when it comes to any airline alliance for connections as nothing is in the same terminal for any alliance!

Now you can earn BA Tier Points on Aer Lingus, I think I might have to take the leap of faith..

Do bear in mind though that EI use the same 1903 lounge at MAN in T2 for their longhaul flights so in terms of airport facilities EI & VS will be pretty much the same. Short haul EI flights fly from T1 and use the Aspire lounge. BA use the Escape lounge in T3 as they closed their own T3 lounge for good during COVID.

MAN is an utter mess when it comes to any airline alliance for connections as nothing is in the same terminal for any alliance!

Every airline bar Ryanair will move to the expanded Terminal 2 once it opens next year - and there are more lounges in the offing, fingers crossed.

Indeed MAN Clubhouse is dead and VS even had to take an impairment on it within their financials - 3.8m to be precise.

Hopefully the 1903 lounge and staff might have improved from last year we travelled through.

Sat on today’s VS75.
There is a new bar/restaurant open in the space VS we’re going to put their lounge.
So we are going to be in the 1903 lounge for a very long time I suppose.
In upper class, it was just sparking wine before take off now. Champers in the air, but these cuts are getting silly.

Sat on today’s VS75.
There is a new bar/restaurant open in the space VS we’re going to put their lounge.
So we are going to be in the 1903 lounge for a very long time I suppose.
In upper class, it was just sparking wine before take off now. Champers in the air, but these cuts are getting silly.

Was the Champers Laurent Perrier by any chance? My understanding was that on the ground the Hambleton sparking wind and some tequila cocktail were gonna be offered but that LP would be offered once you were in the sky. If so, that feels like an upgrade overall so I wont winge too much if it's true. Im flying next Friday to MIA so will confirm.

I am really disappointed in the lack of Manchester Clubhouse, as a proud northerner, although I now live in Peterborough, MAN is for me just as accessible as Heathrow is, and albeit a little longer avoids the kerfuffle of getting across London. That being said, I am not surprised because the expansion at Manchester has just been such a damp squib, and yes the reasons for that are varied, between the failure to launch of VS Connect and more importantly COVID and the longer term financial position. So without that expansion, it's pointless having a Clubhouse there.

I would like to think that the proposed SkyTeam lounge opens at MAN, which could be a good step forward to support VS customers...we shall see, maybe if it does, it will have a bit of VS Sparkle?

Sat on today’s VS75.
There is a new bar/restaurant open in the space VS we’re going to put their lounge.
So we are going to be in the 1903 lounge for a very long time I suppose.
In upper class, it was just sparking wine before take off now. Champers in the air, but these cuts are getting silly.

The lounge was to be located along the same corridor as Escape/1903, just on the left before you got to the Escape reception. It seems odd there’d be a restaurant there as it was totally off the main area.

Just catching up on this feed as I have been in the Middle East. What a mess we don't get the full experience at Manchester as is. We have waiting patiently for the fat past 5 years and now VS management pull the plug to save a few million. if the £3 million figure is accurate it's nothing in comparison to what a brand-new A350 would cost. I read VS financials every year and whats really costing them at this moment in time is having 3 fleet types and the spiralling leasing costs. If Virgin dropped the 787 they would see increase cost savings from pilot productivity and less crew training and maintenance. Keep in mind the 787 will need C and D checks and new interiors over the next 2 years. That's a lot more than a lounge in MAN will cost.

But going back to the lounge it's really shortsighted from VS management as with the World Cup and Olympics coming up in America there will be a real boom over the next 2 years. As some of you have pointed out we always seem to get the old tired planes from Manchester. In addition we were promised the return of the LAX flight in 2023 and that also never happened.A lot of empty promises from where I'm sitting I'm going to write a letter to Shai and the VS management pointing out some of these shortcomings and how this would never be allowed to happen if this was LHR. I will let everyone know how it goes they have got back to me pretty quick in the past.

Regards
Josh