Virgin Atlantic bids for Heathrow-Scotland route
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Virgin Atlantic has bid to operate multiple daily flights between Heathrow and Scotland as part of its short-haul strategy.
The carrier is focusing on Edinburgh and Aberdeen to develop its short-haul network from March 2013 after it announced plans to fly between Manchester and London.
It hopes to fly up to 700,000 passengers a year between London and Scotland in competition to British Airways’ routes since its bmi takeover. The airline’s chief executive Steve Ridgway has also met with Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond to outline its expansion plans for Scottish airports.
“Virgin Atlantic is totally committed to providing a competitive price and choice for passengers flying from Scotland to Heathrow and beyond,” said Ridgway. “At least 1.8 million Scottish passengers, equivalent to a third of the population, have been left without a choice on these routes since IAG’s takeover of bmi.”
Virgin Atlantic will have to wait until the end of the year to find out if it has been rewarded with the 12 available pair slots at Heathrow.