North/South divide

Manchester doesn`t get a dedicated lounge,inflight therapists or V port, now I read that starting later this month, LHR 747s are getting towed to the runway. Our 747s don`t even get so much as a bump start. Is there no end to the luxuries at LHR? When are Virgin going to balance up the service between MAN and LHR?

The start up grid is just a trial on selected 744 flights at both LGW/LHR. you may get this once the trial progreses onto the next stage.

[HighFlyer]

Without sounding harsh, it doesnt make business sense to pour a lot of money into a hub that only has a handful of flights a day. Virgin Atlantic's main airport is Heathrow, its where they make the bulk of their money and its where the business travellers fly. It makes commercial sense to concentrate efforts there.

I do agree that MAN should have better facilities for the Upper and PE passengers, but without limitless resources a priority has to be made somewhere, and if any of us ran the airline, i think we'd do the same in terms of looking after LHR first.

Gatwick has a lot of flights, it has a very nice Clubhouse, but its still not on par with LHR. Thats the same for BA though, and most other airlines who have other hubs. I am sure that if operations increase at MAN then more improvements will be made, but at this time, with only a handful of flights i dont think its economically viable to do so.

Thanks,
Sarah

Indeed Sarah-Sarah, and the same could be said for VS's presence at JFK, EWR,.........

It was meant as tongue in cheek folks.

[HighFlyer]

Tongue in cheek perhaps, but i am sure that there are a great many people who feel that way.

Thanks,
Sarah

Originally posted by Paul H
It was meant as tongue in cheek folks.

The use of smilies would help people identify with you more in that case then don't you think? [i][y]

You think MAN is bad? I suspect it will look pretty luxurious when they start flying out of Glasgow [:p]

I think it makes perfect sense to put the most money into LHR where the greatest % of business travellers are who are likely to be frequent flyers and demand a higher quality of service.
Although LHR has its share of holiday-makers, the % is much higher at LGW and these people are more likely to be on a once-a-year holiday and so are not in demand of extra amenities.
Having said that, there isn't much price difference between the two hubs and I don't really think that is justified.
RE MAN, there are very few flights per day and there are less UC pax travelling per day than potentially on just one flight to JFK, hence perhaps the lesser facilities at MAN relative to some outstations.

BTW, please do not flame me for making generalisations;) I know there are FFs on this site who use LGW, but I suppose that is why they are members. However, I don't think they are an accurate representation of most LGW pax.

VS.

The use of smilies would help people identify with you more in that case then don't you think?

Did people honestly think that my statement was serious and needed a smiley face? I will add smilies where required in future as it would seem my last posting was too easily misconstrued.:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Don't worry Paul, I could see the irony (and goldy and bronzy for the black adder fans) in your post. Chill! Sarah is right though in that there are those who believe Manchester and Gatwick should be equal to Heathrow.

I fully understand the reasons why MAN has not got it's own VS facilities, i.e. a Clubhouse (& yes, if I was running the airline, I would not invest heavily in facilities at MAN at present).

However, the cost of the flights from MAN does not reflect this lack of facilities. Generally speaking the MAN flights are the same price (or slightly more) than their LGW counterparts & what do the UC punters get thrown in at MAN - the Escape Lounge, which anyone can go into for about £18 (& you can bet VS are not paying that much per pax for the lounge either).

As per the VS website, MAN is also closer to both Orlando & St Lucia [only 2 routes I checked] than LGW, so VS are also making a small saving on the fuel costs on the MAN routes also.

Out of interest, if you are on a full-whack J or D fare in UC from MAN, do you get the Chauffeur Driven Cars in the UK?

James

I unfortunately have to agree with those that VS do have the right to look after LHR because thats where they are making all their money from.

Having said that I am a regular user of MAN and I (like many others) feel a little fobbed off when we book a flight with an airline (such as VS) that boasts about state-of-the-art IFE, chauffeur services, exclusive lounges and in-flight pampering etc. But only find out on the day/after booking the flight that this is only available at places like LHR or even LGW. Granted it means that the customer should've done their homework better before booking but it does drop the hint of false advertising and even a waste of money when compared to other airlines.

Thinking positive I am sure that the luxuries enjoyed at LHR will eventually come to MAN but it will be done when VS feel it is economically worthwhile and as and when Manchester becomes stronger as a city for business that there will be demand form businessmen.

I am a regular user of MAN

Me too. And while I understand and accept the lack of clubhouse, chauffeur, and VPORT, - and here comes the hobby horse bit - I still maintain that there is a wide difference in the service offered between MAN and LHR flights. So far as I am concerned, that is something that VS CAN and should do comething about.

Rant over

So, accepting the lack of those items mentioned above, why is there (virtually) no difference in the price?

[mitchja]

The only differences in price between MAN and LGW VS airfares are landing fees, the basic VS fare will be the same. MAN has higher landing fees than LGW does eg:

Q return fare to MCO in June 2007

LGW = 502.00 + 118.80
MAN = 502.00 + 123.20

The other problem with MAN is capacity, T2 where VS fly from doesn't have that many A/C gates and it's not a very big terminal. There might not be any available space for a lounge and/or lounge space rental fees could well be higher too with MAN not being a BAA airport.

Regards

Originally posted by mitchja
The other problem with MAN is capacity, T2 where VS fly from doesn't have that many A/C gates and it's not a very big terminal. There might not be any available space for a lounge and/or lounge space rental fees could well be higher too with MAN not being a BAA airport.

I second mitchja's point about T2 capacity, although at least MAN is better managed than LHR/LGW.

From Treelo's post above, do I take it that if you book a J or D fare in UC from MAN [& live within a few hours drive of the airport] that you don't get a chauffeur car to the airport?

If this is the case, I don't see how VS can justify this - as I am sure I read somewhere on here that TriStar (think that was the name of the company VS use for their CDC service) have a base in / around Manchester.

As I have previously said, I can understand the lack of dedicated VS facilities at MAN, but to charge someone in excess of £4k for a J UC fare and then say "make your own way to the airport please" would be taking the p1ss, IMO.

James

[mitchja]

I'm pretty sure you do get transfers with J fare flights from/to MAN.

I think you would also get them if you book a J fare from LHR or LGW and fly down from MAN to connect. The limo transfer would then be to/from MAN at this end.

Regards

Originally posted by Paul H
The use of smilies would help people identify with you more in that case then don't you think?

Did people honestly think that my statement was serious and needed a smiley face? I will add smilies where required in future as it would seem my last posting was too easily misconstrued.:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Well you felt the need to point it out so what do you think? [n]

Don`t you just love this website.[y]

Originally posted by Paul H
Don`t you just love this website.[y]

[Scrooge]

On topic.

It is also down to Manchester Airport Plc, if they would com up with the space im sure VS would be more than happy to do something with it.VS faces this problem at a lot of airports, LAS for example where in te terminal there is just not enough room for a clubhouse.

Off Topic

Originally posted by daywalker

Originally posted by Paul H
Don`t you just love this website.[y]

Yep, it«s amazing that over the course of time new people join the site and find someone that they can take the mickey out of in a fun and friendly way where feeling are not hurt ( to badly) and nothing gets to personal (hint) [y]

However, it does mean that VS can't use their "Look at our CH" line at MAN in justification for a poor product in other areas;)[}:)]

VS.

I'm not expecting a CH anytime soon, we're lucky if we even get a stand lately! Our last trip they parked us in the middle of nowhere and it was a rugby scrum to get on buses after waiting ages for steps. Half the UC passengers were left stood on the tarmac waiting for the next bus. 3 of the regular stands were empty so I don't understand why they did it. The Capt. said it happened regularly as MAN is so busy. It definitely put us off ever getting the later flight again.

[mitchja]

The biggest problem is that the gates where built too close together in T2 making it impossible for than than a couple of big birds (B744's B777's etc) to be parked up at the terminal at once.

Regards