V-Flyer

allenby wrote:looking at booking MAN JFK, it seems it does not restart until around march 31? and stops again around oct 26

has it gone seasonal?

thanks

When are you looking to travel? Is it within the 331 day limit that they normally open bookings for?

EDIT: It’s letting me book beyond 26th October 2021. Just did a dummy booking and it’s offering me the direct flights outbound on the 28th and back a week later on the 4th.

not beyond 331 limit

just re-checked, still nothing before march 31

availability now stops on November 8 but the price has gone down about 200

thanks

Somewhat relevant to this thread. AA have announced they won’t be resuming the MAN-PHL route in 2021. This was a former US Airways route.

For the first time in years, that leaves MAN with no US carriers directly serving it.

I see that the fitting out of the T2 departure lounge has continued during lockdown and hopefully will be opening some time in 2021.

Does anyone know if work has continued on the VS Clubhouse during this time too?

I’ve no idea but I’ve got my figures crossed it will be open before September as I’ve just booked MAN>JFK . At least the A/C type is back to an A333.

mitchja wrote:I’ve no idea but I’ve got my figures crossed it will be open before September as I’ve just booked MAN>JFK . At least the A/C type is back to an A333.

We've just booked MAN-MCO for September too, hence my question! We're also currently on the A333 which I'm pretty pleased about. Hope it stays that way.

Anyone got any whispers of when new routes may be released from MAN?

As in reinstated routes? BGI will I think be next although this is a re-reinstatement.

Then MCO/ATL/JFK as the US opens. MCO is very important for VS as that will be a major cash cow once it can be opened up.

In terms of "new" routes, I really don't know and I think we might have to wait and see what and when other countries open up. I still think some service to India might materialise in the medium term. VS have shown themselves to being agile and adapt to change the last year and as we move through recovery I think that will continue. Who, 6 months ago would have forecast Pakistan from Manchester and that it would be doing so well?

Hoping for India and Cuba!

ColOrd wrote:As in reinstated routes? BGI will I think be next although this is a re-reinstatement.

I thought MAN-BGI was reinstated in December just before Lockdown 3.0 commenced? A 787 that was used for the ISB flights also did BGI in between.

MAN>BGI was suspended again. The proposed start date for this route in currently Mar 2nd.

Edit - that date has now slipped to Mar 9th.

After months of speculation, Aer Lingus have formally announced long-haul flights from MAN. JFK and MCO will start late-July, with BOS commencing in 2022. One route that's come out of the blue is Barbados which will commence late-October: -

https://mediacentre.aerlingus.com/news/ ... o-120-jobs

It'll be interesting to see how both Aer Lingus and VS get on. I've always said there's room for another airline on the JFK and MCO routes, though BGI will be interesting given VS were increasing capacity post-Thomas Cook and TUI also operate that route.

I presume all these dates are provisional on COVID-19 travel restrictions being eased by then.

The new T2 extension at MAN is tipped to open in April which I guess also applies to the new VS Clubhouse opening as well.

This will be very subject to current government guidelines though as so far only T1 is operating at MAN.

mitchja wrote:The new T2 extension at MAN is tipped to open in April which I guess also applies to the new VS Clubhouse opening as well.

This will be very subject to current government guidelines though as so far only T1 is operating at MAN.

If restrictions continue for longer than expected they could reopen T2 and close T1 as T2 will be much better for keeping to social distancing than T1.

I’m not sure how the Pandemic has affected work on the Manchester CH! I do know one of the ladies I follow on LinkedIn was involved but seems to have now left VS.

I regularly check VS careers site and I haven’t seen any recruitment for it either, but I’m not sure how much outsourcing will be done.

I suspect it will open either for W21 of Summer picks up or they may hold it till S22!

747G-VXLG wrote:

mitchja wrote:The new T2 extension at MAN is tipped to open in April which I guess also applies to the new VS Clubhouse opening as well.

This will be very subject to current government guidelines though as so far only T1 is operating at MAN.

If restrictions continue for longer than expected they could reopen T2 and close T1 as T2 will be much better for keeping to social distancing than T1.

I don't think that will work. The T2 extension won't bring additional contact stands right away, plus I recall the plan is/was for parts/all of the current T2 building to close at that point in order for the next stage of the redevelopment works to take place as the extension contains new check-in desks, baggage reclaim halls, departure lounges, etc. If anything, there might be a bit of a reduction as the lower numbered gates in the current terminal will have to be taken out of use at some point for redevelopment.

What I can see happening is T2 only being open during certain hours. It's something that used to happen during the winter months pre-pandemic when there were no flights after mid/late-afternoon etc.

Long-term, I believe the plan is to get rid of T1 in its current form, though don't quote me as the plans have changed several times since the project was first announced.

ColOrd wrote:I’m not sure how the Pandemic has affected work on the Manchester CH! I do know one of the ladies I follow on LinkedIn was involved but seems to have now left VS.

I regularly check VS careers site and I haven’t seen any recruitment for it either, but I’m not sure how much outsourcing will be done.

I suspect it will open either for W21 of Summer picks up or they may hold it till S22!

I'm 99% sure they had been actively recruiting for the Manchester CH pre-pandemic, but as with everything else, it will have been put on hold. Perhaps they had recruited enough/will redeploy existing staff to the CH once opens.

T1 at MAN is also the only terminal that has an A380 ready gate which EK use / used.

And I am sure that EK will be eager to get 380 ops back to Manchester too!