Virgin Atlantic boss Richard Branson has vowed to give British Airways “a run for their money” if it is given some of Bmi’s short-haul routes from Heathrow.
Branson spoke of his desire to take on the short-haul Heathrow slots that BA is relinquishing as part of parent company IAG’s purchase of Bmi, during a trip to Vancouver to celebrate Virgin Atlantic’s new route to the city.
He said: “We very much hope to get hold of the slots and we’re hoping the EU will keep them together in one package so that Virgin can offer a seamless service to places such as Edinburgh, and bring some competition to British Airways on the handful of routes that those slots would enable us to do it on.”
The 12 Bmi slots being given up by IAG include seven daily pairs to be used between Heathrow and either Edinburgh and/or Aberdeen.
There are also five daily slots which have to be used from Heathrow to Nice, Cairo, Riyadh, Moscow, Edinburgh and/or Aberdeen.
As to what kind of short-haul airline Virgin Atlantic would be, Branson added: “We’ll wait to unveil that until just prior to summer next year, when we’ll be up and running.
“But you’ve got a taste of what it would be like if you’ve ever flown on Virgin America or Virgin Australia. They’re two great domestic airlines, so we’ve had an awful lot of practice.
“So when British Airways questions whether or not we would be able to run a domestic airline, I think we’ve had plenty of experience. We’ll give them a run for their money.”
The Bmi slots will be allocated to other airlines through an independent company appointed by the EU with a slot conference due to be held in November to decide which airlines can operate the routes from summer 2013 onwards. For ABTN’s feature on BA’s plans for Bmi, click here.
Branson was speaking as Virgin launched a four-times weekly service to Vancouver, which will run for the summer season using A340-300 aircraft.
The city is effectively the first Canadian destination for the carrier (although it briefly served Toronto in 2001 but the service was axed after 9/11). It is competing with British Airways and Air Canada on the route.
Flight VS95 departs Heathrow Terminal 3 at 13.00 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, arriving into Vancouver at 15.10. Return flight VS96 leaves Canada at 20.05 on Tuesdays and Saturdays (landing at 14.00 the next day) and 19.20 on Thursdays and Sundays (arriving into London at 13.15 the next day). The service will initially run until October 27.
“We’ve got slots at Heathrow for the summer season. We hope to get slots next year for all year round but, if not, within the next couple of years,” he said. “Our plan is to put our toe in the water and, if it goes as well as we hope, then to go daily year-round sometime over the next couple of years.”
He added: “Vancouver is booming. It doesn’t have a lot of [airline] competition and we felt it deserved a bit more. There’s also lots going on in Britain and many reasons for people to visit us, so I think our timing is auspicious.”
virginatlantic.com