V-Flyer

Was on a flight on Sat and the CC mentioned that the DXB route will move to LGW once the terminal switch has happened. Unsure how legit but apparently it's turned into a B&S route with just the VH market.

It certainly has become a very popular holiday destination so I guess there is some sense if true.
I assume it will be operated by a A330 is it does move.

that'd be a shame, it's the one i used most over the years, but loads often seem to be light, i've wondered for a while if they might even drop the route

EK's 380s take local business traffic and with multiple flights are probably attractive for the non-aligned pax, plus i suspect most uk business flyers opt for BA, maybe VH plus any freight are what's keeping VS viable

i read elsewhere DL is cutting some flights to DXB for autumn/winter

Are there enough planes at LGW to make this work or will they move one from LHR?

Afterall it is basically one plane per route isn't it? With a couple of spares that fill in for maintenance days.

Would the times change? ex LHR it is 22:00. Would they want to re-open the LGW CH just for that one late flight?

It could be a day flight out, then a late return same day ... kinda makes sense to me since I would assume that many passengers are booked via VHols. If so it then frees up a slot pair at LHR ... for what I wonder?

slinky09 wrote:It could be a day flight out, then a late return same day ... kinda makes sense to me since I would assume that many passengers are booked via VHols. If so it then frees up a slot pair at LHR ... for what I wonder?

If the route is indeed predominately VHols as has been suggested, then a daytime flight out / later daytime return would make a lot more sense for Hols customers. Their hotel rooms would be ready on arrival in Dubai without having to pay for an extra night for early check-in.

Ditto for departure - request late check-out, which most hotels can oblige with for a very minimal (if any) fee & not ling until your transfer to the airport. The only killer may be the arrival time at LHR, possibly requiring an overnight stay, depending on where you live / your class of travel (i.e. if you get a CDC & live close to LHR).

slinky09 wrote:It could be a day flight out, then a late return same day ... kinda makes sense to me since I would assume that many passengers are booked via VHols. If so it then frees up a slot pair at LHR ... for what I wonder?

Certainly seems to make sense, but as well as freeing up a LHR slot, do they also need to buy a new slot at LGW or retire one on their current offerings?

Makes sense given that many other carriers offer forward connections and Virgin with lack of airline alliance do not.

I'd do the same with Miami, move it to LGW too.

The VS service to MIA did actually op from LGW originally. Can't remember the exact date it moved, but I remember it happening as I had a flight booked and I had to rebook my domestic flights because of the move.

I did fly the VS6 MIA>LGW back in Sept 2001 a few days after 9/11, so it was after that the move took place.

As much as i agree that DXB is predominantly a leisure route , moving it to LGW would mean loosing out on all connecting traffic from the rest of the VS/DL network at LHR .

If you have a look at fares EX DXB to the US or vice versa , VS price themselves very competitively . Some connections require an overnight stay due the time when the inbound 401 lands however they are priced very attractively so that they get much wanted feed .

EK has always ripped off DXB based passengers with extortionate fares ex DXB to Europe or the US and that is where VS have carved a niche .

The DXB rotation is meant to switch to a 787 staring Summer next year .There are no plans to base the 787 at LGW so by the looks of it the route will remain at LHR .

More so the 10 PM departure slot at LHR is worthless for any US flights . With the US focus that VS has got i don't see them growing in the East for the foreseeable future .

good