Does anybody have any experiences with Virgin Express (good or bad). I'm trying to build a connection from Barcelona to London through Brussels using Virgin on the BRU-LHR segment so I'm mainly intersted in on time performance. Thanks in advance

- indogulf

indogulf,

My experience of Virgin Express is generally poor, especially the time-keeping. They are a low cost (budget) carrier, so they groung-staff support is limited and this can often cause delays loading aircraft etc.

Also, as a low-cost carrier there turn-round times are kept to a minimum, so if the inbound flight is delayed the possibility of catching up is limited and this contributes to their delays.

My recent experience of BRU-LHR is that BD (British Midland) has the best time-keeping, although this averages out at about a 45 minute delay.

I am flying BRU-BHX this afternoon (BD656) and will make a note of how Virgin Express are doing then!

Regards,
Nick

PS: The chances of your inbound flight arriving from Barcelona are very limited. The delays from Barcelona are so bad that Iberia are proposing to cut 35% of their flights in order to reduce ATC congestion.

[This message has been edited by Merry (edited 06-04-99).]

merry,

thanks for your info. I guess i'll skip the experiment of Virgin Express and stick with a direct flight or something on a regular airline.

i did notice delays with Virgin Express last week in LHR but I put that down to normal LHR delays.

regards,

- indogulf

Used Virgin Express in February from Brussels to Gatwick and back to Brussels from London Stansted. It's a typical low fare airline. Normally single class, although our flites were Sabena codeshares, so the first few rows were set aside for a typical inter-European business class. In Europe, ATC is the enemy. Any connections are risky, although Brussels is a pretty good hub. Early morning flites have the best chance (assuming there is no fog), as well as flites to secondary airports (like Stansted). Service was spartan, but adequate. Aircraft interiors were really beat up.

check out europebyair.com for $99 coupons usable on Virgin Express as well as other airlines. (Spanair is one of the other participating airlines). Minimum purchase 3 coupons.

jl