Dropping Dubai - from 31 March 2019
Jun 27, 2018, 7:41 am
#1
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Dropping Dubai - from 31 March 2019
Am surprised by this. With QF pulling out earlier this year, Royal Brunei ending their stopover in Dubai in October, this will see 5 direct carriers dropping to 2 within a year.
That's a reduction of Virgin's A330, BI's 787, and 2 x QF A380's, London capacity replaced by 1 extra flight into Stansted with Emirates.
Look forward to prices going up. Considerably.
That's a reduction of Virgin's A330, BI's 787, and 2 x QF A380's, London capacity replaced by 1 extra flight into Stansted with Emirates.
Look forward to prices going up. Considerably.
Dubai Network changes
We need to let you know that after 31 March 2019 we will cease flying between London and Dubai.
This year we’ve announced exciting growth plans for Manchester and London Heathrow – introducing new flights to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and boosting capacity to create more opportunities for people to fly with us. As part of this network review we made the difficult decision to withdraw Dubai and we’d like to thank our customers and dedicated team in the UAE for their loyalty over the last 12 years. We’ll continue to offer daily flights between London Heathrow and Dubai until 31 March 2019, with our last departure from London on 30 March, and we will be sad to say goodbye to this fantastic city.
We need to let you know that after 31 March 2019 we will cease flying between London and Dubai.
This year we’ve announced exciting growth plans for Manchester and London Heathrow – introducing new flights to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and boosting capacity to create more opportunities for people to fly with us. As part of this network review we made the difficult decision to withdraw Dubai and we’d like to thank our customers and dedicated team in the UAE for their loyalty over the last 12 years. We’ll continue to offer daily flights between London Heathrow and Dubai until 31 March 2019, with our last departure from London on 30 March, and we will be sad to say goodbye to this fantastic city.
Jun 27, 2018, 8:43 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAEC Silver, VS Gold, Virgin Trains Traveller, Her Majesties Secret Service.
Posts: 407
Can't say I am surprised... It must have been one of the lowest yield routes based on how much I paid for my tickets.
I racked up 16 returns on VS alone on that route, so it will be sad to see it go.
I racked up 16 returns on VS alone on that route, so it will be sad to see it go.
Jun 27, 2018, 9:00 am
#3
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Quick back of fag packet calculations - unless any other airlines step up / increase flights, when VS pulls out London will have lost 402,992 direct seats to Dubai compared to same time previous year.
That has to mean an increase in price.
That has to mean an increase in price.
Jun 27, 2018, 9:03 am
#4
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Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: London
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Probably not, because the Virgin outbound flight times stank for the leisure market and the back of the plane could have been quite empty.
To be fair, BA stinks as well (first departure 12 noon-ish) but at least is not overnight. The sweet spot for me as regular leisure traveller is a 9am departure from London on Emirates or Etihad which at least means you'll be in your hotel well before midnight.
To be fair, BA stinks as well (first departure 12 noon-ish) but at least is not overnight. The sweet spot for me as regular leisure traveller is a 9am departure from London on Emirates or Etihad which at least means you'll be in your hotel well before midnight.
Jun 27, 2018, 9:38 am
#5
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: UK
Programs: VS Gold
Posts: 512
Yep, I'm about to clock up only my 3rd after discovering a relatively good TP-to-the-pound ratio (PE 'S' class fares) but now that plan has gone to pot it's back to the drawing board!!
Last edited by SlimpyJones; Jun 27, 2018 at 9:54 am
Jun 27, 2018, 10:16 am
#6
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Probably not, because the Virgin outbound flight times stank for the leisure market and the back of the plane could have been quite empty.
To be fair, BA stinks as well (first departure 12 noon-ish) but at least is not overnight. The sweet spot for me as regular leisure traveller is a 9am departure from London on Emirates or Etihad which at least means you'll be in your hotel well before midnight.
To be fair, BA stinks as well (first departure 12 noon-ish) but at least is not overnight. The sweet spot for me as regular leisure traveller is a 9am departure from London on Emirates or Etihad which at least means you'll be in your hotel well before midnight.
Jun 27, 2018, 7:24 pm
#7
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Don't forget that Abu Dhabi is just down the road from Dubai, so you also have the competition from Etihad. You also have several European airlines offering competitively priced 1 stop options.
I'm surprised the route lasted this long. I can't really see how it attracted much connecting traffic, since Emirates fly to more than enough American cities direct. Point-to-point the timings were just awful.
I'm surprised the route lasted this long. I can't really see how it attracted much connecting traffic, since Emirates fly to more than enough American cities direct. Point-to-point the timings were just awful.
Jun 27, 2018, 7:37 pm
#8
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Australia
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But are these pax actually going to DXB or using it as a transfer hub? I'd say the majority of the BI and QF pax were transfer.
Jun 28, 2018, 3:12 am
#9
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QF especially and BI obviously continued onto SYD/MEL and BWN but Dubai remained a popular stopover for those using these stopovers, but it was also a popular end destination for both airlines and their UK Sales Offices heavily pushed their DXB fares to UK Tour Operators. The impact could not just be higher DXB fares across the board but a general rise in EK prices to all destinations from the UK. Be interesting to see if BI continues daily services to LHR as their connections to OZ/Asia are fairly poor in Brunei, and not that many people want to to visit BWN...
Jun 29, 2018, 2:50 am
#10
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAEC Silver, VS Gold, Virgin Trains Traveller, Her Majesties Secret Service.
Posts: 407
There were times I paid £20 for an upgrade from Economy to Premium... which is insane!