OHLBU From Finland, joined Jan 2005, 226 posts, RR: 0 Posted (7 years 2 months 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 3062 times:
Is G-VFLY "Dragon Lady", the A343 that Virgin sold to Finnair (though I'm not 100% sure about the airframe) still current with VS? Any news about the date of ferry-flight to Helsinki? Or if it will be refurbished/repainted in the UK? The cabin mods will surely take a few weeks and Finnair's Maintenance has it's hands full with the MD-11 modifications.
BA0284 From United Kingdom, joined Oct 2005, 299 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (7 years 2 months 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 2936 times:
Well at the moment G-VFLY definitely has not left the airline yet. In fact it went out to Cape Town on the 15th as VIR603! I don't know whether this is the actual aircraft going to Finnair. I think G-VBUS and G-VSKY are the only ones which have left VS, going to Virgin Nigeria and BWIA respectively.
AngelAirways From United Kingdom, joined Nov 1999, 500 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (7 years 2 months 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 2791 times:
VFLY is in the fleet until the 26th May 2006, after which it officially gets returned to "Laura Leasing" but in reality will go to Finnair.
Meanwhile, and this is the weirdest of things, TAAG Angola were interested in VAEL (interest expressed only).
VAEL is one of the worst examples in the fleet as it has the really old and unreliable IFE and interior. Same as the BWIA one that is now 9Y-JIL and regularly flies without IFE because there are no resources to repair it... and all the reds on the interior have gone into a pinky fade.. nasty.
Richard28 From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2003, 1570 posts, RR: 6 Reply 4, posted (7 years 2 months 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 2696 times:
Quoting AngelAirways (Reply 3): VAEL is one of the worst examples in the fleet as it has the really old and unreliable IFE and interior.
VAEL has exactly the same config as the other A343's leaving the fleet (VSUN, and VFLY) and those already left (VSKY and VBUS) (i.e. same seats, and IFE).
Quoting AngelAirways (Reply 3): Same as the BWIA one that is now 9Y-JIL and regularly flies without IFE because there are no resources to repair it..
It has the Arcadia IFE, all seemed to be working fine with no flaking paint when I last flew her.
Timboflier215 From United Kingdom, joined May 2005, 1238 posts, RR: 1 Reply 5, posted (7 years 2 months 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 2678 times:
when will VAEL leave the fleet? im sure VS are looking to get rid of it, one a/c that is sub-standard could be an earnings loser if people have high expectation which are not met
Richard28 From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2003, 1570 posts, RR: 6 Reply 6, posted (7 years 2 months 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 2625 times:
Quoting Timboflier215 (Reply 5): when will VAEL leave the fleet? im sure VS are looking to get rid of it, one a/c that is sub-standard could be an earnings loser if people have high expectation which are not met
As I understand it is scheduled to leave before the end of the year - exact date/new owner TBC
Crosscountry From United Kingdom, joined Nov 2005, 127 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (7 years 2 months 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 2503 times:
I flew on VAEL last month.
She was a bit tired looking (as I have also said about VSUN in another post) The tray table on my seat was jammed and the IFE locked up for a good hour but the ride was good and I actually managed to get some sleep.
Wouldn't be suprised to see these birds go. They let the side down a bit for VS.
Incidentally, the A340-300 did not seem the best aircraft I've ever been on for getting the meal service out.
Having flown on every type in the VS fleet, the meal service was definitely slower on the A340 and on the outbound leg they actually ran out of meals, complaining about galley space.
The poor woman infront of me had to put up with a few rounds of butties for the long haul to CPT!!!
Wouldn't be suprised to see most of the -300's gone pretty soon.
However, as an interesting point, would they not make a pretty nifty sub fleet for MAN ops...particularly as I believe maintenance is done just over the Irish Sea in Dublin?
Eilennaei From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 9, posted (7 years 2 months 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 2481 times:
Quoting OHLBU (Reply 7): Funny that Finnair didn't get that one, as they seem to love buying rubbish from other airlines, like the ex-Varig OH-LGG.
Careful here, please. OH-LGG has from all I know been performing just like the other AY MD-11s. Seems to me it's quite possible to repair an airframe to a "like new" condition in heavy maintenance, although this one took some 150% of the time scheduled.
Sponsor Message: 
From Finland, joined Jan 2005, 226 posts, 
From United Kingdom, joined Oct 2005, 299 posts, 
Printer friendly format 
