06/10/2014

Virgin Atlantic To Stop Short-Haul Service

Virgin Atlantic has announced it is to stop its short-haul service, Little Red, next year.

Little Red was launched in March 2013 as an attempt to reintroduce consumer choice on key domestic services after British Airways' takeover of bmi gifted them a monopoly on these routes.

Over the past eighteen months, Little Red has delivered for consumers, leading the way on customer service and on-time performance at Heathrow. Flying well over a million passengers between London, Scotland and Manchester, Little Red offers convenient onward connections to the rest of Virgin Atlantic's worldwide network.

Bookings grew steadily for the service in the first part of 2014 with the airline enjoying excellent customer feedback. However the demand has been predominantly in direct customers rather than connecting traffic. High levels of connections onto Virgin Atlantic’s long haul network have always been important to the success of Little Red.

Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive Craig Kreeger said: "We're very grateful for all of the support and goodwill shown to Little Red in Scotland and Manchester, where we received a warm welcome. I would also like to personally thank the Little Red team, including the cabin crew who have been fantastic ambassadors providing exceptionally high levels of customer service. We are working to offer them roles on our long haul operation when these services end."

(CD/IT)

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