Virgin ATR Business Class

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goingboeing

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Curious "enhancement" for Sydney <-> Canberra ATR Flights it seems.... J is now for sale on these routes. Accident or is it a new strategy to get one up on Qantas on the route :shock:

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Interestingly, other ATR routes such as PQQ-SYD don't have J available...
 
Interesting, a quick search shows a few Euro carriers do or have tries J on ATRs, albeit 31inch pitch..eg
SeatGuru Seat Map Czech Airlines Aerospatiale/Alenia ATR-42 (AT4)
LH also did it but just blocked 1 or the 2 seats per Row
It doesn't appear on other routes from a quick check of some other ATR routes (although the Business cabin column is there just Greyed out)**

On CBRSYD VA only have 1 to 2 Jets perday vs QFs 5 or so 2 cabin 717s so that may be the reasoning behind this, although paying $529 for a turbo prop one way seems a bit OTT
I cant imagine it can compare in any way to the 717s.
** a bit weird when searching on LST the flight time indicates 1 hr, yet the flight info attached says 30mins??. Also J cabin greyed out(not avail) yet operated by 737s,indicating this route may be
changed to the ATR??
 
Hmmm .... there's a variance in the fare when going through the booking process:

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Not to mention this little caveat: :shock:

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At least you'd get lounge access an 1 piece of free luggage.
 
At least you'd get lounge access an 1 piece of free luggage.

LOL. Worlds most expensive lounge and luggage allowance? I have noticed the same thing as Serfty for "J" class flights in March 2015.. advertised at $529 but when selected goes down in price with the caveat above the Continue button.

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Also has a flight time listed as 1:30mins for SYD-CBR but when you look at the departure and arrival times its a 1hr flight.

As for Standby's comments about the LST flight - could just be incompetent web site or some sort of IT mistake, or possibly is 'a bet each way' so if there isn't sufficient demand they can downgrade from a B737 or E190 down to an ATR72. I am having a look now to see if there are other VA routes where they block J class bookings.
 
Who on earth would pay $529 for J on an 60minute flight?

The taxpayers.

And even then - if some unfortunate political lackey/staffer books this without closely checking and someone even remotely important boards and sees their "Business Class" seat on an ATR72 I would expect some epic DYKWIA moments......
 
Just don't know how the Australian government can jusfty there yearly travel costs to/from CBR on sectors under 1.5 hours. Surely Y wouldn't hurt them, after all NZ chucks the PM in Y every day to WLG.
To be fair ,NZ dont have domestic J,i'm sure if they did the pollies/public servants with their snout in the trough would be lining up for it
 
Perhaps Virgin might be doing something like Lufthansa whereby if a customer purchases a Business ticket, the seat next to them is blocked off (so effectively a 1x1 configuration)?
 
Perhaps Virgin might be doing something like Lufthansa whereby if a customer purchases a Business ticket, the seat next to them is blocked off (so effectively a 1x1 configuration)?

It would need to be the worlds worst business seat, they are hard as a rock. And another point, would it be Row 1 or 17 for J if it's a 1x1?
 
A "J" park bench! Now I've heard it all!

An ATR doesn't need J. It just needs a bullet!

In all honesty though, all VA had to do was ditch their LCC headspace and shell out for comfy seats, then there'd be no problems. Now however, we're stuck with rubbish that should be consigned to Liberia. 'tis what happens when accountants are allowed to drive a company!
 
It would need to be the worlds worst business seat, they are hard as a rock. And another point, would it be Row 1 or 17 for J if it's a 1x1?

I've flown on a Eurolot flight from RIX to WAW which was an ATR with business class.
J class was in the rear section of the aircraft, it was however empty, so couldn't tell you if they blocked the seat beside for those that were in J.
 
On CBRSYD VA only have 1 to 2 Jets perday vs QFs 5 or so 2 cabin 717s so that may be the reasoning behind this, although paying $529 for a turbo prop one way seems a bit OTT
I cant imagine it can compare in any way to the 717s.
** a bit weird when searching on LST the flight time indicates 1 hr, yet the flight info attached says 30mins??. Also J cabin greyed out(not avail) yet operated by 737s,indicating this route may be
changed to the ATR??

VA are getting smashed in Tassie, especially in LST and have been progressively downsizing. My aircraft type when I get stuck flying them often changes.

It has been talked about for some time that Tiger will return shortly to take over some slots - but their reputation is mud in Tas so will be interesting to see how they 'relaunch' the brand here to win the locals/tourists.

J often isn't sold out of LST - means if you are quick you can select a J seat with 'Y service' (read a cup of water!) when you check in. Not that you really need it for a often 45 min flight.

I think they need to adopt a QF approach to TAS and deploy the ATRs with more frequency. QF used to be 2 jet services before switching to now 4 Q400 services as a base but QFLink seems to be very flexible and often you will find they will throw on and extra couple of flights per day when they start selling out.

VA could put on a few ATRs and hand the jet flying over to Tiger to take on Jetstar.
 
Tiger will return shortly to take over some slots - but their reputation is mud in Tas so will be interesting to see how they 'relaunch' the brand here to win the locals/tourists.

Changing the name would be a good start!
 
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