V-Flyer

I see from a.net that CO's flights from EDI are running at 92% ave capacity over the summer.

Is this not another reason the Virgin should be looking at using the A340-300 to start up a limited transactlantic service from Scotland.

(Possibly like the original flights from MAN 5 days a week - although I am not saying flights to MCO specifically)

Anybody any comments ?

regards

David

CO can attract PAX flying anywhere in the USA, as pax can connect at EWR to the rest of the CO network, rather than relying on EDI-NYC traffic alone.

Maybe once Virgin USA start up this could be an option, or connect to a HP hub?

I am all for any expansion by VS that is going to make money. However I personally would like to see more routes from MAN before going to what must be the huge expense of starting afresh at a new airport.

MAN - EWR, BOS or LAX for example.

Nick

MAN-EWR could work if they can get onward code-sharing on CO, but maybe that would not fly, as that would be directly competing with CO on the MAN-EWR segment.

MAN-JFK could be a goer, as I think you only have BA or AA to choose from on that segment, and it may work out on point-to-point traffic alone. There are only limited onward HP connection opportunities from JFK.

If they could land a partnership with JetBlue, then NYC would work as a transfer hub, but with Virgin USA in the offing, aiming at the same market as JetBlue, it's unlikely this would happen. In any case, partners and connections don't really fit well with JetBlue's operating model.

So, going back to the need to work the flight into an HP hub in order to make onward connections in the US, I guess LAS would probably be the best choice, as VS already have an operation there.

Also MAN-LAS-LAX or MAN-LAS-SFO are probably not much longer in terms of travel time than MAN-LHR-LAX or MAN-LHR-SFO.

Cheers,
Mike