Virgin Atlantic is biting the bullet and launching domestic service within the U.K. to feed its long-haul Heathrow services, starting with the Manchester-London route.
The carrier plans to begin offering three daily flights on the route on March 31 with Airbus A319 aircraft and crews leased from another airline, which it did not name. The flights went on sale in the U.K. yesterday.
Virgin has been strictly a long-haul carrier and does not have any A319s or other short-haul aircraft in its fleet.
Anticipating questions about its brand standards, Virgin said in a FAQ section on its website that it will "ensure the crew will provide the world-renowned Virgin Atlantic experience on board."
Virgin said details of the in-flight service will be revealed at a later date.
Virgin is leasing Heathrow slots for the domestic service, but said it will soon apply for all the the Heathrow slots that BMI was ordered to surrender to win U.K. approval of its acquisition by British Airways’ parent, International Airline Group.
That takeover meant, among other things, that Virgin lost a partnership with a key source of Heathrow feed traffic.
“As consolidation alters the choices available to consumers, we are adapting to new opportunities, including those for increased connecting passenger revenue. We have been a leading airline for 28 years and that is because we have always adapted our product and business to the ever-changing market,” Virgin said in the FAQ section.
In a statement, Virgin CEO Steve Ridgway said, “Flying between Heathrow and Manchester is just the start for our new short-haul operation. We have the means to connect thousands of passengers to our long-haul network as well as to destinations served by other carriers. Our new service will provide strong competition to omnipresent BA. It will keep fares low and give consumers a genuine choice of airline to fly to Heathrow and beyond.”