VA withdraws all services from Hong Kong

[twinaisle]

Rumor is Exiting Syd-HKG services as of 20th March 2020

 

[Bolthead]

Exiting Syd-HKG services as of 20th March 2020

Where did you get this info from.... flights still available on line in June/July 2020. Can you quote your source please....

 

[Dr Ralph]

Rumor is Exiting Syd-HKG services as of 20th March 2020

Even for the now edited to 'rumour' do you have a source?

 

[redwoodw]

Virgin Australia axes Sydney-Hong Kong flights

Virgin says Hong Kong's civil unrest and China's coronavirus have made the Sydney-Hong Kong route unviable.

www.executivetraveller.com

 

[The-Aviator]

Sad but understandable. Suppose the A330 will be back on transcon for the moment?

 

[Bundy Bear]

Put the A330 on flights to and from Perth,

Also the A330 might be good between Sydney and Melbourne for any evening peak service, as soon as a storm hits either city 737s can't clear the mess.

 

[Bolthead]

If it is true it will be a bit of an issue for us... we are booked SYD-HKG-LHR June/July on a VA ticket so hopefully they will feel sorry for us and upgrade us on either Etihad or VA/VS via LAX.... LOL (wishful thinking)

 

[TheInsider]

If it is true it will be a bit of an issue for us... we are booked SYD-HKG-LHR June/July on a VA ticket so hopefully they will feel sorry for us and upgrade us on either Etihad or VA/VS via LAX.... LOL (wishful thinking)

You're dreaming about a cabin upgrade!

 

[ozstamps]

They would have been flying light filled HKG flights for weeks I am guessing.

They need to take the hit as soon as possible as no end in sight to the disruptions in HKG and the Corona Virus either. And the financial diaster with partner HK Airlines all makes for a perfect storm over there.

None of these disasters of their making sadly but that does not pay for empty 9 hour type flights.

No idea if India is viable but only a few direct flights there from here which always seems odd to me.

Flying Air India is a lacklustre disaster (and I have taken several in recent times and they are in HUGE financial trouble) so might be worth looking at?

 

[jase05]

A shame as I love their service to HKG but it’s simply not feasible with what’s going on.
Another A330 on transcon for the time being isn’t a bad thing.
Not ideal for the partnership with VS but hopefully one day they can see fit to add a LHR-PER service or even get a slot at HND

 

[ozstamps]

Not ideal for the partnership with VS but hopefully one day they can see fit to add a LHR-PER service

You are dreaming about PER-LHR right? QF got there first.

Back in the real world, Virgin Atlantic already fly LHR to 2 huge cities in India as it is - Delhi and Mumbai.

The WA mining boom is behind us - forget about adding more A330 transcons, and look at something logical like INDIA to use those expensive leases profitably.

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[jase05]

You are dreaming about PER-LHR right? QF got there first.

Back in the real world, Virgin fly LHR to 2 huge cities in India as it is - Delhi and Mumbai.

The WA mining boom is behind us - forget about adding more A330 transcons, and look at something logical like INDIA to use those expensive leases profitably.

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I’m suggesting VS might one day do PER-LHR not VA especially if they too deem HKG too big of a risk.
As for India there are good reasons QF don’t fly there either, don’t think VA would take the risk.
I absolutely think extra A330 transcon services will work though if they used properly

 

[Dr Ralph]

Story now on the SMH site so must be official!

Coronavirus, protests push Virgin Australia to drop Hong Kong service

The airline said that its daily return Sydney-Hong Kong service would cease permanently from March 2 after a review of the route concluded it was no longer financially viable.

www.smh.com.au

 

[ozstamps]

As for India there are good reasons QF don’t fly there either, don’t think VA would take the risk.

As I said direct service is near non-existent. Hence is worth looking at carefully.

The country has 1.3 Billion people or something, and the middle class numbers are exploding there, and AFAIK Air India has the only direct service - SYD-DEL. Why?

We went to Chennai at Xmas via Chengdu China and Bangkok for goodness sakes with bad connections, as the direct AI flight sold out months ahead.

 

[Doctore1003]

Statement on VA site: Virgin Australia annouces withdrawal of Hong Kong services

 

[jase05]

As I said direct service is near non-existent. Hence is worth looking at carefully.

The country has 1.3 Billion people or something, and the middle class numbers are exploding there, and AFAIK Air India has the only direct service - SYD-DEL. Why?

We went to Chennai at Xmas via Chengdu China and Bangkok for goodness sakes with bad connections, as the direct AI flight sold out months ahead.

I have often wondered about India but surely AJ has crunched the numbers and there must be solid reasons why he hasn’t got QF in on the action. Jet Airways has already gone belly up and Air India isn’t fairing much better which suggests India is a very difficult market

 

[kamchatsky]

Sad to hear but understand the reasons. I loved their VA J service to HKG in January. Best service and food compare to CX and QF.

India would not be a good choice given the competition with SQ, MH, TG and even CX. Better off using A330 domestically or a second Japan route if there are more slots available.

 

[docjames]

Not surprising given HKG has tanked for demand given the civil unrest in HK, their failing HK partner airline, and now coronavirus it was inevitable. The VS partnership was too little too late (and would have been better at launch).

India is predominately low yield for a premium heavy aircraft.

Expect them to get some use transcon and the golden triangle, as well as times of peak demand to eg. Fiji, whilst they hope they can build on their new japan flight. It would be good if they could make DPS work with them, but it’s a LCC route by volume and they wont be cost-competitive there.

It’s hard to see what new (to them) routes they can serve without a huge financial risk and/or loss-lead period.

Hard to see any of the “obvious” ones working out:
- HNL (but HA already serve extensively and have plenty of aircraft)
- DPS (as above)
- BKK (yield problem)
- SIN (too much competition, SQ already serves)
- Taiwan (not now.....)
- Seoul (who would they partner with)
- AUH ex-PER wont work for them (EY have their own issues at the moment)

- NZ - well they’ve been slaughtered there already.....

Their strongest partner is DL but that needs 787/777-type range to serve the west coast (which they already do). Hard to see what else they can offer them unless they have very specific needs. DL connection in HNL i guess to other destinations but why do that and cannibalise their LAX services.

Sth America - again, partner and flight distance and issue for the 330
Sth Africa - same.

Doesnt leave many options unless they can grow the Japan market.

One wonders if they just should eat the lease termination cost and get rid of them........

 

[dajop]

India is predominately low yield for a premium heavy aircraft.

Yes! We've been through this several times over the years with India, the problem is also geographically it can be served much better (with more convenient connections) through SIN, KUL & BKK as you get the fan effect of a hub. India is huge, but the problem is the biggest cites/hubs on both Australia (SYD/MEL) and India (BOM/DEL) are at the SE and NW corners of their respective countries. So to travel, say BNE-BLR might involve ridiculous BNE-SYD-DEL-BLR, instead of BNE-SIN/KUL/BKK-BLR.

- SIN (too much competition, SQ already serves)

Do a codeshare arrangement with SQ, and an extra timing out of MEL to supplement SQ's 5 daily! It is the busiest route out of Australia ...
MEL-SIN .. 07:00/11:55, SIN-MEL 13:55/00:25. Not that I have personal interest in that

 

[klm597]

It's is a huge shame that they are pulling the plug but understandable given recent events. With the US 3 airlines all pausing Hong Kong flights it's no surprise. I do wonder if Qantas will pause a few of their Hong Kong flights soon as well.

I'd love to see Virgin Atlantic restart Tokyo (NRT is fine) but the lead up to the Olympics would have been the ideal time so I am not expecting any news on that front for a while. I can dream though!

Agree re: India - the yields would be limited and I can't imagine SQ supporting it as they carry a lot of India - AU traffic currently.

Interesting discussions regarding where the A330 could be redeployed. Other than on transcon routes and to Fiji, I could imagine SYD-DPS potentially working during peak periods. Growing Japan is an interesting idea, with MEL-HND being the obvious route once BNE-HND proves itself. I can't see VA getting any extra HND slots though and I doubt they'd want to deal with the additional overheads of flying into NRT as well. I don't think ANA can trade HND slots with VA but I might be wrong?