Virgin Atlantic have today announced its plans to ensure the airline is best suited to the new demand for air travel. Under the plans, the airline is 'optimising the network and simplifying their fleet.' Currently there are seven Boeing 747-400 aircraft in their fleet, all are to be withdrawn effective immediately, and will not return to passenger service. The four Airbus A330-200s will leave the fleet in early 2022. The fleet will consist of 36 aircraft in 2022. For the route network, all operations are to be moved to London Heathrow, and the Gatwick hub will be temporarily closed. The airline will retain their slots at Gatwick if possible ready for use when the demand reaches a level where this hub can be reopened. Virgin Holidays is to have a subtle name change to Virgin Atlantic Holidays. For the employees, Virgin Atlantic are starting a 45 day consultation with BALPA and Unite unions, after announcing a planned reduction of 3,150 jobs. In a statement, Shai Weiss, CEO mentioned “I wish it was not the case, but we will have to reduce the number of people we employ. The commitment of our people throughout this crisis has been nothing but amazing, and the embodiment of true Virgin spirit. As we have navigated the Covid-19 crisis, I have been humbled at every step by their solidarity. In times of adversity we must support each other so that ultimately, we can emerge a stronger and better Virgin Atlantic." To read the full press release from Virgin Atlantic, please click here. The owner of British Airways (IAG) have today announced that they plan to reduce the workforce of the British airline by up to 12,000. This is in relation to the Coronavirus pandemic, and the substantially reduced demand for air travel.
IAG has stated that a restructuring and redundancy program needs to be brought into place until demand for air travel reaches that of the 2019 levels. This is currently a proposal, and is not set in stone. They will be discussed during a consultation before any action is taken. Today, Virgin Atlantic Cargo announced that it would be operating over 90 cargo only flights during May 2020. These services will be operated by Virgin Atlantic and their fleet of passenger aircraft. There are 14 aircraft available for use on these cargo only services. PlaneMadNews understands that both the Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350-1000 fleet will be used.
One of the interesting movements, is the twice weekly Dublin to London Heathrow service. These will come as an add on from a once weekly New York JFK to Dublin, and a once weekly Los Angeles to Dublin service. Throughout May, the flying schedule is to be as follows: LHR - JFK to be operated 17 times per week using flight numbers VS687, VS685, VS603 JFK - LHR to be operated 17 times per week using flight numbers VS688, VS686, VS604 (once per week via Dublin) LHR - LAX to be operated 9 times per week using flight numbers VS681, VS607 LAX - LHR to be operated 9 times per week using flight numbers VS682, VS608 (once per week via Dublin) JFK - DUB to be operated once per week using flight number VS604 (to commence on 5th May 2020) LAX - DUB to be operated once per week using flight number VS608 (to commence 7th May 2020) DUB - LHR to be operated 2 times per week from 6th May using flight number VS604 on Wednesdays and VS608 on Fridays LHR - HKG to be operated 4 times per week using flight number VS206 HKG - LHR to be operated 4 times per week using flight number VS207 LHR - PVG to be operated daily using flight number VS250 LHR - JNB to be operated 3 times per week using flight number VS601 JNB - LHR to be operated 3 times per week using flight number VS602 LHR - TLV to be operated 2 times per week using flight number VS653 TLV - LHR to be operated 2 times per week using flight number VS654 The statement from Virgin Atlantic Cargo also states a twice weekly service to Mumbai will operate, however details of these are yet to be released. To read the full release from Virgin Atlantic Cargo, click here It is being widely reported that Virgin Australia, an airline with over 10,000 employees and 130 aircraft is set to go into administration. It is estimated that the amount of debt the airline has accrued is AUD$ 5 billion.
A request to the Australian government for a AUD$1.4billion has been submitted, after facing 7 years of losses. Entering administration does not mean that the airline will not fly again, however it is unlikely to in the near future. An announcement regarding going into voluntary administration has been reported to come as early as Tuesday morning (21st April) Information shared on @zeTravelersClub on Twitter indicates that Air France are to send three of their Airbus A380s to Teruel for longer term storage due to COVID19.
The three airframes are expected to be F-HPJA, F-HPJC and F-HPJE. Currently, F-HPJC is in Abu Dhabi for maintenance, and will be ferried to Teruel directly from here. The other two airframes will arrive from Paris CDG.
Reuters today reported that GECAS have cancelled 69 orders for Boeing 737MAX aircraft. The company is said to be evaluating its current order book and making amendments based on customer demand due to COVID19.
This is in addition to the 150 cancellations which Boeing announced in March. Lufthansa are to temporarily decommission all 17 of their current Airbus A340-600 aircraft. This will see them all stored at Teruel in Spain over the next few weeks, with decommissioning expected to take 2-3 months. The aircraft are expected to be parked for between a year and a year and a half, with 7 of the airframes not returning to service. 'A decision on the future use of the aircraft or a possible reactivation of a maximum of ten aircraft will be taken at a later stage in time.' The full Lufthansa Press Release can be read here. |
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