Starting next year, Virgin Atlantic airlines will be operating daily flights from Heathrow Airport in London to Moscow. With the help of Billionaire Richard Branson’s airline this will be a phenomenal change by entering the Russian market.
There was a time until 2006, where British Airways was the only British company to operate flights to London. Then there was a merger between the company and British Midland that opened the door to more available operating flights.
According to the Guardian, Virgin Atlantic chief Steve Ridgeway has confirmed that the airline anticipates taking all slots opening between Moscow and London, which are a total of 12.
“Linking these two cities will be an important part of our strategy to run short-haul flights into Heathrow thus feeding our long-haul network. It will also radically improve competition on the route, “Ridgeway said.
In recent years the traffic between the cities has tripled and with such a great opportunity, the company hopes to capitalize on the successful market. Also, Ridgeway said this decision would help boost the competition at Heathrow.
“Our core flying has always been across the Atlantic, but we have been clear that we will also continue to grow our routes to emerging markets if given the slots at London Heathrow. Moscow would be our third BRIC country, and we think it is imperative for British trade that we are operating in these economies, “Ridgeway said.
Based on experts quoted by Vedomosti said that even thought the move was positive it will more than likely not affect prices.
“The arrival of Virgin is good news for passengers flying from Moscow to the Western hemisphere……Virgin is one of the best carriers between Europe and the U.S. and in London it has a big hub,” states Boris Rybak, general director of transportation media relations company Infomost. “But from the point of viewing of pricing policies, it’s unlikely anything will change.”
However, Virgin will finish the travel season operating flights with partner bmi, Sergei Bykhal, a Transaero spokesman confirmed to Vedomosti that the company possibly will be a partner of Virgin.
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