Virgin change from 747 to a330

[sdrfish]

I had a look today at my seat bookings and it seems as if the 747 is going to be gone by jan 2020. I’m flying out on the 9th of jan on a 747 and flying back on the new a330 on the 23rd. I put the Seat config below for those interested.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Mmm. I booked today for early May 20 out and late May 20 back.
Seats done, both on a 747. God love those old birds

[sha9]

I much prefer that seat layout for a party of 2. The 747 is fine for us in PE but not economy. I’d love it if it was the A330 from Glasgow next year.

[sdrfish]

I forgot to add I got the email for this last week but I didn’t both to check as it only said it was a time change not plane change.

I am in agreement with Mr Tom Morrow i also like the 747 but it appears as if the London Gatwick route is changing to the a330 it would appear as if virgin are in process of informing people soon.

[sophiepop]

I think Manchester is keeping the old planes for a while yet

[Mymemories]

I wish they were all changed by this December. UC in the 747s is very tatty and shabby

[pk67]

Originally Posted by sha9

I much prefer that seat layout for a party of 2. The 747 is fine for us in PE but not economy. I’d love it if it was the A330 from Glasgow next year.

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VA are running the A330-200 from Glasgow in November and December. This has driven the price up substantially this year. I suspect the reduction from 440 to 275 passengers has been a factor in that.

[sha9]

Originally Posted by pk67

VA are running the A330-200 from Glasgow in November and December. This has driven the price up substantially this year. I suspect the reduction from 440 to 275 passengers has been a factor in that.

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Not really. They didn’t used to fly from Glasgow in the winter so they’ve gone from 0 to 275.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

Mmm. I booked today for early May 20 out and late May 20 back.
Seats done, both on a 747. God love those old birds

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I’m looking at flights for May as well and all of them I’ve looked at state a 747.

[ManCity]

Originally Posted by sdrfish

I had a look today at my seat bookings and it seems as if the 747 is going to be gone by jan 2020. I’m flying out on the 9th of jan on a 747 and flying back on the new a330 on the 23rd.

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These A330 are NOT 'new'. They are 8 or 9 years old and are used on flights to places such as Boston, Washington, Newark, Atlanta, Caribbean. I think they are probably just using a smaller aircraft than the 747 on some days if they can't fill it.

The 'new' planes are A350-1000, the first 4 of which are going to LHR for the JFK route. The first 3 of these are currently doing flight testing at Toulouse, one of these has been painted (photo on the VA Blog). The 4th is in final assembly. There was a post this week in another forum to say the inaugural flight will be Sept 10, with tickets released this weekend, so a lot of people are going to get a plane change soon.

The next four A350, presumably for the 747 replacement on the leisure routes, are on the production list. Given the serial numbers, they might be going for assembly later this year or early next. I am guessing that VA might start taking delivery this time next year. Obviously VA can use whatever planes they like on each route - it is simply an operational decision. They can also change their plans. They haven't said yet whether MAN or LGW will get them first.

They have also just announced an order for some A330Neo, but they will be some time off yet.
There is a A350 production list here: sites.google/site/a350xw...roduction-list