Virgin pulling out of dry Tokyo hole

[yanpa]

We have some news to share with you that we have recently announced our intention to cease our operation between Tokyo and London. This means that the proposed last flight between Tokyo and London will be on 1st February 2015.

We have been proud to serve our customers in Japan for the past 25 years, however these are highly competitive times for the airline industry and as part of our strategy to operate more efficiently; we need to deploy our aircraft to routes with the right level of demand to be financially viable.
We thank you for your business over the years, and you can still travel between Tokyo and London with our partner ANA, so you can continue to enjoy the benefits of our Flying Club programme.

[wagyl]

At five months, they are giving a lot more notice than many others do. The Unruptured Hymen is to be saluted!

[GomiGirl]

What a shame - they are my preferred carrier to the UK.

[yanpa]

Yeah, I popped my Japan aviation cherry with them back when people could still smoke on planes.

[legion]

Subtext : Branson has decided to focus on space travel for the rich, fuck you.

[Wibble]

Subtext : Branson has decided to focus on space travel for the rich, fuck you.

More likely that Delta control their little bitch now

[wagyl]

Or the other possibility: that it costs more to run the service than they gain in revenue, or if not that dire then at the very least that they can use the resources expended on the Tokyo London route on other routes for greater profit. Sometimes press releases are more than just spin.

The whole concept that you can transport a living body and some 20 Kg of luggage some 9000 Km there and 9000 Km back for some 125,000 Yen, including the various airport charges, astounds me. I wouldn't offer to do that for that cheap! For example, if it cost the same amount per distance, a 10 Km train journey would be 70 Yen.

[matsuki]

For example, if it cost the same amount per distance, a 10 Km train journey would be 70 Yen.

That actually sounds reasonable...

[havill]

They were using the geriatric A340 for that route. By modern standards, it is a gas guzzler. With oil prices of today, yeah, airlines are using any excuse to get rid of it.

[wagyl]

For example, if it cost the same amount per distance, a 10 Km train journey would be 70 Yen.

That actually sounds reasonable...

Hi Choko. I want you to carry me 10 Km to my destination. I won't be using you regularly, just whenever the mood takes me. I'll get angry if you keep me waiting more than 15 minutes. I'm prepared to toss you 70 yen a time. I've heard you think that's reasonable. Will you carry me?

I think you will find that it costs you more than 70 Yen to drive your car 10 Km, and that is just the fuel cost, not including the tyres, insurance, mechanical maintenance, labour costs, etc.

The day I started climbing up snowy mountains was the day I stopped complaining about the cost of ski lift passes.

[Wage Slave]

They were using the geriatric A340 for that route. By modern standards, it is a gas guzzler. With oil prices of today, yeah, airlines are using any excuse to get rid of it.

Or use it on a route with a better load factor of course. Is there overcapacity from Tokyo to London? I sometimes get offered some competitive deals transferring at Narita on to either BA, JAL or ANA. Flown it a couple of times.

[havill]

They were using the geriatric A340 for that route. By modern standards, it is a gas guzzler. With oil prices of today, yeah, airlines are using any excuse to get rid of it.

Or use it on a route with a better load factor of course. Is there overcapacity from Tokyo to London? I sometimes get offered some competitive deals transferring at Narita on to either BA, JAL or ANA. Flown it a couple of times.

Almost all the airlines are retiring or have retired them-- often times taking a loss on their leases. Airbus doesn't make them anymore.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=a340+retired

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... 0s-390832/

[Wage Slave]

I see. So they'll be back with a Dreamliner or something in due course.

[yanpa]

Meanwhile for my upcoming flight, JAL has a better deal from Haneda than Virgin from Narita.

[IparryU]

Meanwhile for my upcoming flight, JAL has a better deal from Haneda than Virgin from Narita.

JAL also tired to fly a fucked up plane that my friend was on 2 weeks aga... tried 3 times to take off and failed each time. but that must be most other airliners too?

[chibaka]

tried 3 times to take off and failed each time. but that must be most other airliners too?

I would have tried to get off before the third attempt

[yanpa]

Meanwhile for my upcoming flight, JAL has a better deal from Haneda than Virgin from Narita.

JAL also tired to fly a fucked up plane that my friend was on 2 weeks aga... tried 3 times to take off and failed each time. but that must be most other airliners too?

With most other airliners I'd hope the pilot remembers to take the handbrake off.

[yanpa]

Meanwhile for my upcoming flight, JAL has a better deal from Haneda than Virgin from Narita.

Turned out to be a code-sharing flight with BA. The BA ticket was cheaper, and bizarrely after booking the invoice price is a few 1000 yen less. Not that I'm paying for it, mind you.

[yanpa]

Talking of airports, I'll be passing throuh Berlin, which ended up with two main airports (one west, one east) after 40 years of division, neither of which was really big enough for a large capital city. So the logical thing to do is build a new central airport and close the old ones. Original opening date, as envisaged in 1991: 2000. Construction begin: 2006. Construction completion: 2013-ish. Planned opening date: 2016 (ish) due to ongoing legal and regulatory wrangles.