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Virgin Atlantic has made a large number of changes to the type of aircraft it will be using on flights out of London and Manchester so if you have reserved specific seats on a flight for late this year (or early 2019) I would check to see if those reservations are still in place.
(HT: Routes Online for the info)
These aircraft changes have been partly forced upon the airline thanks to the continuing issues with the Rolls Royce engines on Virgin’s Dreamliners.
Why You Should Care
Different aircraft have different seating arrangements so, for example, if you were booked into an exit row on one aircraft there’s no guarantee that you’ll still be booked into an exit row when your aircraft gets swapped out for another.
Likewise the nature of the cabin you’re booking into may well change (the Upper Class cabin on the Dreamliner is different to some Upper Class cabins on other aircraft) – there’s not much you can do about this but at least you’ll know what to expect if you check now.
If the seats you chose are important to you the sooner you check to see that you’re still happy with your reservation the more chance you have of rectifying anything that displeases you – the longer you leave it the more likely it is that someone else will get the seats you want.
With that in mind here’s a brief rundown of the routes on which Virgin Atlantic has changed aircraft:
London Heathrow Changes
To/From Atlanta
Between 17 February and 16 March 2019 a number of flights will be served by an Airbus A330 instead of an A340
To/From Boston
Between 7 January and 23 March 2019 a number of flights will be served by an Airbus A340 instead of an A330
To/From Dubai
From 28 October 2018 onwards the route will continue to be operated by an Airbus A330 rather than the planned 787-9 Dreamliner.
To/From Lagos
Between 28 October 2018 and 22 March 2019 a number of flights will be served by an Airbus A330 instead of an A340
To/From Los Angeles
Between 12 January and 30 January 2019 and 15 February and 5 march 2019 flights VS007/008 will see an A340 the scheduled 787-9 Dreamliner.
To/From Newark
Between 29 October 2019 and 26 March 2019 and Airbus A340 will replace the scheduled A330 on a multiple of dates.
To/From New York JFK
Between 28 October 2018 and 29 March 2019 all services are scheduled to be operated by A330 or A340 aircraft rather than the scheduled 787-9 Dreamliner.
To/From San Francisco
Between 28 October 2018 and 29 March 2019 flights VS019/020 will see an Airbus A340 replaces the scheduled Dreamliner 787-9.
To/From Washington Dulles
Between 28 October 2019 and 22 March 2019 and Airbus A340 will replace the scheduled A330 on multiple dates.
Manchester Changes
To/From Atlanta
Between 28 October 2018 and 30 March 2019 this service will still be reduced from 4x/week to 3x/week as previously scheduled but, in addition, all services will now be operated by Boeing 747 aircraft instead of a combination of 747 and A330 aircraft.
To/From New York JFK
Between 28 October 2018 and 30 March 2019 this service will still be reduced from 5x/week to 3x/week as previously scheduled but, in addition, all services will now be operated by Boeing 747 aircraft instead of a combination of 747 and A330 aircraft.
Bottom Line
Check your bookings if you care about where you’re sitting on any Virgin Atlantic flights departing between 28 October 2018 and 30 March 2019. In fact it wouldn’t hurt to check your seat reservations on all Virgin Atlantic flights between now and April next year as there may be other changes that I haven’t noted.
Overall just keep a close eye on your Virgin Atlantic seat reservations as I doubt these will be the last changes we see.
