g500 From United States of America, joined Oct 2011, 720 posts, RR: 0 Posted (6 months 1 week 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 502 times:
The article "Flow of English tourists to Mexico to Increase" says Virign Atlantic is evaluating other Mexican destinations... I wonder which, Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas are others that could support flights to London
"Virgin Atlantic confirmed that from April 2013, the airline will increase by 50 percent the number of seats on its London-Cancun route, considered one of the most successful for the British company. Virgin Atlantic is also evaluating the opening of new flights to other Mexican tourist destinations"
In a separate article, thomson CEO said Cancun was one of their top four destinations and one of their first 787 destinations
SonomaFlyer From United States of America, joined Apr 2010, 1171 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (6 months 1 week 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 506 times:
I don't think Cabo would support flights to London (given its size ) but Cozumel might. Puerto Vallarta in theory could as well but that depends on if the security situation down there improves.
g500 From United States of America, joined Oct 2011, 720 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (6 months 1 week 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 506 times:
Quoting SonomaFlyer (Reply 1): I don't think Cabo would support flights to London (given its size )
I don't know, but they did extend the runway to 9800ft, however the airport (and town) are still fairly small...lots of 737s, A319/A320s and private jets there, but nothing larger than I've seen there
i think Cozumel with a tag-on from Cancun would have the best chance at getting a weely Virgin flight, maybe 2X weekly
anstar From Netherlands, joined Nov 2003, 4844 posts, RR: 6 Reply 3, posted (6 months 1 week 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 506 times:
They aren't doubling flights.. they are going from twice weekly to 3 weekly.
They have also just announced that the leisure 330's will be refitted into the LHR config next year and will debut on some caribbean routes - UVF, BGI, ANU to meet premium demand and increase frequencies.
spiritair97 From United States of America, joined Jan 2011, 1231 posts, RR: 1 Reply 4, posted (6 months 1 week 3 days ago) and read 506 times:
Quoting anstar (Reply 3): They aren't doubling flights..
Nobody said they were. Increasing capacity by 50 percent means they are adding 50 percent of their current capacity onto their current capacity, i.e. 2x weekly goes to 3x weekly. Though, I did think it meant doubling capacity too at first.
AA94 From United States of America, joined Aug 2011, 356 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (6 months 1 week 3 days ago) and read 506 times:
Quoting spiritair97 (Reply 4): Nobody said they were. Increasing capacity by 50 percent means they are adding 50 percent of their current capacity onto their current capacity, i.e. 2x weekly goes to 3x weekly. Though, I did think it meant doubling capacity too at first.
The thread title is "Virgin to Double Current Capacity on London - Cancun," which I think we have already established is incorrect.
Choose a challenge over competence / Eleanor Roosevelt
spiritair97 From United States of America, joined Jan 2011, 1231 posts, RR: 1 Reply 6, posted (6 months 1 week 3 days ago) and read 506 times:
Quoting AA94 (Reply 5): Quoting spiritair97 (Reply 4):Nobody said they were. Increasing capacity by 50 percent means they are adding 50 percent of their current capacity onto their current capacity, i.e. 2x weekly goes to 3x weekly. Though, I did think it meant doubling capacity too at first.
The thread title is "Virgin to Double Current Capacity on London - Cancun," which I think we have already established is incorrect.
Hehe........whoops! Looked everywhere except there! My apologies.
g500 From United States of America, joined Oct 2011, 720 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (6 months 1 week 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 504 times:
Quoting anstar (Reply 3): They aren't doubling flights.. they are going from twice weekly to 3 weekly.
I'm just going by what the article said
Quoting AA94 (Reply 5): The thread title is "Virgin to Double Current Capacity on London - Cancun," which I think we have already established is incorrect.
I'm looking at the title, I didn't write "current" in there, you did
With rather easy alternate ways to get from Cancun to Cozumel, I doubt it would be worth the expense of flying a triangle routing, or tag route on an A330. I'd like to think ACA could be an option, still the lure of a one time "hot spot" in Mexico is still alive, but obviously tourism in that area has slowed down since the 60's and 70's. Maybe SRB can make it cool again.
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duckbilled From United States of America, joined Jul 2003, 24 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (6 months 1 week 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 502 times:
Quoting RWA380 (Reply 9): With rather easy alternate ways to get from Cancun to Cozumel, I doubt it would be worth the expense of flying a triangle routing, or tag route on an A330. I'd like to think ACA could be an option, still the lure of a one time "hot spot" in Mexico is still alive, but obviously tourism in that area has slowed down since the 60's and 70's. Maybe SRB can make it cool again.
I agree. Many people fly in to MMUN and do the "bag drag" to Cozumel.
I don't see a lot of Europeans going to the Pacific side of Mexico. The number of all-inclusive resorts is far lower on the Pacific side than the Caribbean side. Also, people have so much more to pick from on the Caribbean side considering that MMUN basically services Cancun, Isla Mujeres, Playa Mujeres, Holbox Island, Puerto Morelos, Playa Del Carmen, Cozumel and Tulum. In short, you are talking about 150+ ocean front resorts in a variety of locals at virtually any price point.
Quoting g500 (Reply 7): I'm looking at the title, I didn't write "current" in there, you did
Sorry, my mistake. I'm not even trying to be a stickler, but just to make sure that everyone realizes that VS isn't doubling capacity, just increasing.
Choose a challenge over competence / Eleanor Roosevelt
laca773 From United States of America, joined Nov 2004, 3743 posts, RR: 2 Reply 14, posted (6 months 1 week 1 day 18 hours ago) and read 501 times:
Quoting TC957 (Reply 11): I wonder if Acapulco is on VS's thoughts. Agree that MAN - CUN should be looked at seriously.
ACA was very popular up until the late 80s, perhaps early 1990s, but has since dropped off markedly.
I think PVR would do well, 2X weekly to start. Can the 330s fly it without restrictions? Perhaps this would be an idela route for a 787?
MEX would be another vital route to look into. BA still doesn't fly this daily and probably never will even with owning IB. I do believe VS could make some decent yields on LON-MEX. 3-5X weekly to start. A346s?
duckbilled From United States of America, joined Jul 2003, 24 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (6 months 1 week 1 day 18 hours ago) and read 501 times:
No Mexican Airport has the draw that MMUM has. No one is going to an all-inclusive vacay in MMMX and PVR doesn't have enough properties to satisfy the European market. You guys need to get your heads out of the clouds and look at what's on the ground.
skipness1E From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2007, 2370 posts, RR: 0 Reply 21, posted (6 months 1 week 1 day ago) and read 500 times:
Quoting anstar (Reply 3): They have also just announced that the leisure 330's will be refitted into the LHR config next year and will debut on some caribbean routes - UVF, BGI, ANU to meet premium demand and increase frequencies.
Do you have a link? I thought they were all LHR bound and the Carribbean services were short term to get the B744s through refits. Once that was complete I thought the A330 was being withdrawn from the leisure routes. Has that changed?
sevenheavy From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2004, 1126 posts, RR: 10 Reply 23, posted (6 months 1 week 23 hours ago) and read 500 times:
Quoting skipness1E (Reply 21): Do you have a link? I thought they were all LHR bound and the Carribbean services were short term to get the B744s through refits. Once that was complete I thought the A330 was being withdrawn from the leisure routes. Has that changed?
Interesting.
I don't have a link but it has been announced. With G-VTOP's retirement they were never going to have enough capacity to operate the leisure routes (even without further expansion) and I understand this has been in the pipeline for a while. To compound the issue, all 5 LHR B744 have been, and will continue to be needed at LHR so BGI is missing the J class capacity.
G-VINE will be reconfigured in March '13. G-VKSS/SXY in September '13.
As an aside (if anyone cares, but this is a.net so why not ), I flew the new UCS on the A333 for the first time a few days ago. It was better than I had expected. When in seat mode the recline and padding is noticably better, and in bed mode the mattress has much better padding. The use of space is very clever but I would say that there is less shoulder space when in flat bed mode, and some seats appear slightly shorter but this would only be an issue if you were well over 6 ft tall. IFE was as expected - superb! Like having an iPad in your seat, and you can watch the skymap on the handset while a movie is playing on the main screen.
Overall, pretty good, and certainly competitive on the >8hrs flights these aircraft are going to be operating on.
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