Fresh doubts have emerged over the future of Virgin Atlantic’s Little Red flights between Aberdeen and London Heathrow.
The Press and Journal understands the planes, operated on Virgin’s behalf by Irish airline Aer Lingus, may not take off again after spring.
With Virgin looking to grow its transatlantic business and many Little Red flights running less than half full, it is feared the group’s fledgling domestic operation – serving Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Manchester – will be sacrificed.
One aviation industry insider told the P&J that valuable Heathrow landing slots acquired by Virgin in 2012 and currently used by Little Red will be available for long-haul routes after April.
Virgin’s “winding down” of the Little Red business it launched at the end of March 2013 is inevitable as the parent focuses on the competitive transatlantic market, he said.
A spokeswoman for Heathrow was unable to say if a contractual clause preserving the slots for domestic routes was about to expire.
But Robert Gordon University Scottish Centre of Tourism director Andrew Martin believes Little Red’s days may be numbered.
Mr Martin said: “They (Virgin) might want to take a punt and keep these services on for commercial reasons.
“But they are paying a lot for the slots and the business model cannot really support aircraft running at half capacity.
“It would certainly make sense use the slots for aircraft that give more profit per journey.”
Virgin owner Sir Richard Branson promised “real competition” for British Airways (BA) when he announced in August 2012 that he would start up UK domestic flights.
His airline was allocated 12 daily landing and takeoff slots at Heathrow for various routes, including Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
The slots were freed up at the insistence of European regulators after International Airlines Group, which owns BA, took over part of rival BMI.
But while Little Red took off, seat sales did not – figures published by the Civil Aviation Authority earlier this year show Little Red’s load factor – indicating how full its planes are – was just 37.6% during 2013, the lowest in the industry.
Virgin would not say how likely it is that Little Red will be around for its summer schedule.
But a spokeswoman for the airline said: “We will look at Little Red through the same lens as we have recently looked at the rest of the business, including the long haul network.
“It must deliver on performance, potential or strategic contribution.
“Little Red is still in its growth phase, so it is too early to comment on these criteria at this point.”