[transtraxman]

Branson lost his credibility some time ago – especially when he made no real attempt to buy BMI and its slots at Heathrow.
Whatever happens from now on he cannot blame anybody but himself.

CAPA yet again comes up with a penetrating analysis
“Virgin Atlantic SWOT. Little Red’s demise further re-emphasises the Atlantic and the Delta ownership”.

http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/virgin-atlantic-swot-little-reds-demise-further-re-emphasises-the-atlantic-and-the-delta-ownership-190184

The main point to note is that Virgin Atlantic is considered under-capitalised. So such bombastic rhetoric from beardie is just a red herring. It has never been said better that he should put his money where his mouth is.However, he complains about everything except his own failings.

From now on he is clearly in the hands of DELTA. They call the tune so a loss making operation, like LITTLE RED, was just going to fulfill its legal requirements.That is why the Manchester operation finishes in the spring while the Edinburgh and Aberdeen operations finish in October next year. Announcing the intention now is just the attempt to kill the operation in case there were a last minute betterment of the traffic figures.

What happens next? The only realistic possibility is for Aer Lingus to take up the challenge. It has operated LITTLE RED as a wet-lease operation for Virgin Atlantic so has gained the experience. It is a well known brand in the UK and has sympathy within certain sectors (Celtic, Hibs – Canucklad any comment??) which could benefit it in Glasgow and Edinburgh at least. Manchester is really a no-go but Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen are possibilities.
Operating as LITTLE RED or as AER LINGUS-LITTLE RED would provide the alternative to BA which the market needs.

Feed from/into Heathrow could well be higher than before. Virgin Atlantic, without doubt, would welcome an alternative source than BA. However, if you look at Aer Lingus´ partners you see that they have ETIHAD and its associate ALITALIA. From that you can see the Sky team Alliance, including DELTA, would be very interested. Even Star Alliance would welcome an alternative to BA.

Let somebody like AER LINGUS take up the challenge as a realistic competitor is needed. However, the real competition will not arrive until a third runway is built.

The only feasible alternatives are EASYJET and RYANAIR.. Do you see them flying into Heathrow?

[AMcWhirter]

Hello cityprofessional

Perhaps I should have clarified that I was referring to the budget person who is not too fussy which London airport he or she uses.

One reason Little Red lost money was because the fares it could charge were too low for it make money at LHR.

In the early days Little Red’s fares could be the same price or less than those of Easyjet by the time the ancillaries are included.

Even today there may only be a small premium.

[transtraxman]

@andystock
Vueling from T3 as well

[cityprofessional]

@Alex – oh, I agree with you – I just think FR were capitalising on this to give their unrelated STN-EDI plans a PR boost

As for Vueling and Germanwings, given that they were gifted the slots/routes by their parent/associated full service sister airline; and they’re not really LCC in the easy/Ryan sense, I don’t think they count!

[transtraxman]

@cityprofessional

I know nothing about Germanwings but do know about Vueling.
The LCC market is changing , most notably since Ryanair announced it was going to take more notice of the business market. In my opinion it is still a rubbish airline despite being the largest LCC in Europe.

Easyjet has always flown to main airports and not to out of the way places in the boondocks. Vueling got off the ground later but has been leading the LCC market since day 1, preferencial boarding, reserved seating etc. which Easyjet has introduced later.

I consider Vueling quite highly with Easyjet in second place for flights in Europe. IAG made a good purchase.

[BusinessBabble]

Vueling flights from Heathrow are only available through to March 15, assume this was them using slots until BA had the aircraft to make better use of them. I agree with transtraxman that Vueling was a good buy.

I don’t think Germanwings is a true low cost carrier, it’s only lower cost than Lufthansa for their non hub flights, but not as low as easyjet, Vueling or Ryanair costs.

[canucklad]

To answer your question transtraxman……
It will be one of EI’s challenges if they attempt to make a go of it. But probably not as you think, there will be quite a few people from the opposing camp that will refuse to fly “ Green” …… pathetic, but unfortunately the blight of sectarianism although its not as bad as when I first moved here, it still rears its comically backward thinking ugliness.

Aer Lingus would also have to overcome…….
A reduced target audience from what the census states. (Bigotry)
A privileged monolith of an incumbent carrier.
A dilemma with N.A. bound passengers and its Dublin hub.
Not having a robust FFP that fits into an alliance.
An inferior on board service to BA (domestically)

For it to work on the EDI-LHR service, I’d recommend that they play about with their existing LHR slots and increase frequency to at least match peak business travel times.but not BA’s schedule.

Have a simpler more defined fare structure that includes a proper business class offering. With a corporately negotiated price (similar to the Executive package on East Coast) with companies which include a green incentive.
Think out the box…. Is there anything wrong with LHR – GLA- EDI- LHR, as long as it’s a proper land and go service.

And most importantly of all, it needs to have tied in lucrative codeshare agreements with IMO the key star alliance airlines that are going to dominate T2. VS are now a spent force whose decline will match their need to follow BA’s tried and tested but boring focus on the US market.
Almost forgot…….Unlike VS, market themselves as a real USP alternative for travel to LHR.

[transtraxman]

Though I see your points I do not get the USP argument. I am sorry but what do you mean?
USP=Universal Service Provider??

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