Singapore is a very important market. So as Sydney

Will the ever return to Sydney?

Will they start service to Singapore?

The ME3/SQ offer a superior product and over the years tag on flights are very expensive to operate. They used to code-share with Virgin Australia out of HKG to SYD, MEL and BNE. VS is owned by DL now and will focus on niche markets where there is a lot of O&D and connecting traffic from the US like Israel, India, Pakistan, Nigeria and South Africa. PVG and HKG are still online due to its O&D nature and also the lucrative cargo markets. SIA Cargo/ME3 cargo have cornered the Singaporean/Aussie market. Due to the ME3/SQ cargo dominance for example, QF Freight only operate TPAC to East Asia and AU/NZ which are far more lucrative with less competition.

It is unlikely VS will fly to SIN. They codeshare with SQ who, in normal times, operate at least 3 daily services between LHR and SIN so it is not really necessary that they operate the route with their own metal.

It is unlikely VS will return to SYD. Crewing costs for such a long run are very expensive. Pre-COVID, VS linked with VA in HKG with VS operating LHR-HKG and VA doing HKG-MEL/SYD. VA no longer do long-haul international so this service will not return.

Singapore to anywhere in the UK is nearly 11,000 km, which is ~10% longer than HKG, itself already the longest route VS flies by a good bit.

Sure, they could technically do it, but that's a tough ask in terms of fleet utilization when you're facing both BA and SQ (which has a huge share of the ex-SIN traffic, especially with premium) nonstop, the ME3 hoovering up Y-class via cheap connections, and...um, COVID, which some folks may have heard was affecting air travel just a bit and especially to places with strict policies like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia.

Also, they've shown that this type of route just isn't their strategy, which might be apparent from the name of the airline.

DL owns 49% while Sir Richard Branson owns 51% right?

UAUA wrote:

DL owns 49% while Sir Richard Branson owns 51% right?

49% by Delta, 51% by the Virgin Group.

As mentioned above, SIN is dominated by SQ, going back in time the 49 % of VS that is now owned by DL was owned by SQ. No way VS was going to operate that route then. Now, it's simply a better ROI to have a plane operate a US flight.

Hong Kong - Sydney won't be happening either, for one the same reason, aircraft utilization and also, one Hong Kong went down to one flight a day, they found that the majority of the seat sold were for that leg, leaving very few seats available for the Sydney leg.

“Ever” is a long time.

In the 1960’s, no one thought that Delta would ever fly to Europe. It just wasn’t part of their market.

jetwet1 wrote:

UAUA wrote:

DL owns 49% while Sir Richard Branson owns 51% right?

49% by Delta, 51% by the Virgin Group.

As mentioned above, SIN is dominated by SQ, going back in time the 49 % of VS that is now owned by DL was owned by SQ. No way VS was going to operate that route then. Now, it's simply a better ROI to have a plane operate a US flight.

Hong Kong - Sydney won't be happening either, for one the same reason, aircraft utilization and also, one Hong Kong went down to one flight a day, they found that the majority of the seat sold were for that leg, leaving very few seats available for the Sydney leg.

Maybe Virgin Australia will do it one day?

Sir Richard Branson is still the largest shareholder of Virgin Group right?

You need to remember that LON - SYD takes three aircraft to operate daily. Better to have one aircraft doing three return flights elsewhere in that timescale.

I'm hoping VS return to Tokyo. Once the Japanese government give the green light to open up the country again, there's bound to be a big demand for both business and VFR passengers.

TC957 wrote:

I'm hoping VS return to Tokyo. Once the Japanese government give the green light to open up the country again, there's bound to be a big demand for both business and VFR passengers.

VS dropped the route back in 2015, its not coming back anytime soon.

ZK-NBT wrote:

UAUA wrote:

jetwet1 wrote:

49% by Delta, 51% by the Virgin Group.

As mentioned above, SIN is dominated by SQ, going back in time the 49 % of VS that is now owned by DL was owned by SQ. No way VS was going to operate that route then. Now, it's simply a better ROI to have a plane operate a US flight.

Hong Kong - Sydney won't be happening either, for one the same reason, aircraft utilization and also, one Hong Kong went down to one flight a day, they found that the majority of the seat sold were for that leg, leaving very few seats available for the Sydney leg.

Maybe Virgin Australia will do it one day?

VA do what? Fly to LHR? Seems a good way to lose money for them, other than the fact they no longer have any capable aircraft. Unless they get 789 or A350s and do it from PER one day I can’t see them doing it through Asia.

VA didn't do any stopover longhaul routes pre pandemic. It's difficult to see a case a for new VA to pickup a widebody fleet for regional and transpac flights, let alone flying to Europe.

I'm actually a little surprised that BA has announced recommencing its daily LHR-SIN-SYD service.

ZK-NBT wrote:

UAUA wrote:

jetwet1 wrote:

49% by Delta, 51% by the Virgin Group.

As mentioned above, SIN is dominated by SQ, going back in time the 49 % of VS that is now owned by DL was owned by SQ. No way VS was going to operate that route then. Now, it's simply a better ROI to have a plane operate a US flight.

Hong Kong - Sydney won't be happening either, for one the same reason, aircraft utilization and also, one Hong Kong went down to one flight a day, they found that the majority of the seat sold were for that leg, leaving very few seats available for the Sydney leg.

Maybe Virgin Australia will do it one day?

VA do what? Fly to LHR? Seems a good way to lose money for them, other than the fact they no longer have any capable aircraft. Unless they get 789 or A350s and do it from PER one day I can’t see them doing it through Asia.

VA should restart SYD/MEL-HKG I mean.

They should also restart flights to LAX to