Virgin Atlantic allowed me to buy tickets for flights it knew it was to scrap

I paid for two return premium economy flights between Melbourne and Hong Kong (via Sydney) with Virgin Atlantic in early February, only to receive an "important information" email eight hours later saying that the flights had been cancelled because the route had been scrapped.

The outbound flight was on 9 May, and the email said the route was ending after 5 May. I was asked to call Virgin to have my booking switched to an alternative carrier. But Virgin then told me they were unable to do this and instructed me to request a refund. The Virgin flights cost A$3,243 (£1,800). But as I still needed to travel, I was forced to pay higher ticket prices with an inferior carrier.

As a British expat who has lived in the US and Australia for the past decade, I have flown almost exclusively with Virgin, have silver membership of its Flying Club and now feel completely let down. I understand that strategic decisions, such as cancellation of routes, are not taken lightly. But surely, taking payment for services in the full knowledge that you're not intending to provide them is misrepresentation? I have just got back from the trip to find the refund has still not materialised. Sitting on more than A$3,000 for over 17 weeks is astounding in today's consumer-led marketplace.

How do I get my money back, and am I entitled to claim interest?AC, Melbourne, Victoria

This was a major commercial decision (the route was closed after 10 years as it was deemed unprofitable) and the company would have planned its formal announcement very carefully.

There was clearly some sensitivity about the timing, given the inevitable job losses, and the need to consult with unions and staff. But there were implications for passengers, too, and in our view you definitely got a raw deal as you ended up having to book your own, more expensive, substitute flights.

The Civil Aviation Authority says that once a flight is cancelled the operator is legally obliged to offer a reroute at the earliest possible opportunity, or give a full refund. If the customer does not receive what he/she is legally entitled to, and they have to book alternative flights, they are entitled to claim the costs back.

We contacted Virgin Atlantic and it set about speeding up your refund, apologising for the delay. It has also given you 10,000 Flying Club miles – redeemable on Virgin Australia and Singapore Airlines, as well as Virgin Atlantic.

It said: "We will discuss all options with passengers booked on the services and will look to either offer a full refund or rebook them on to another carrier. In this case we made several attempts to book an alternative flight for AC but were unfortunately unable to do so. We appreciate this led to the passenger needing to pay a higher price for his new flight. We will look at this issue further if he contacts our customer relations team."

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Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic synchronise transatlantic schedules

Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic Airways will transfer operations for non-stop flights connecting London-Heathrow to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport this winter, offering more choice for the airlines’ customers on key routes across the Atlantic. Effective October 26th, 2014, Delta will begin operating one of two daily Heathrow-Los Angeles flights currently operated by Virgin Atlantic. This new Delta service will mark the airline’s first non-stop flight between Los Angeles and London Heathrow and is Delta’s seventh non-stop destination between London and the United States. Virgin Atlantic, meanwhile, will begin operating one of Delta’s three daily flights between Heathrow and Atlanta. 

The new services will expand the award-winning service offered by both carriers to customers as well as provide greater choice for travel between the UK and North America.

The two airlines will codeshare on each other’s operated services, allowing Delta and Virgin customers seamless access to the expanded network. “It’s great to see how our partnership with Delta is already proving fruitful to our customers,” said Craig Kreeger, Virgin Atlantic chief executive. “In less than a year we will have co-located key business routes, delivered schedule changes to benefit our customers and provided enhanced experiences to our frequent fliers, who gain from reciprocal lounge access and the ability to earn and burn across both carriers.

“This is just the beginning of demonstrating how a true joint venture between airlines should be operated to benefit customers.”

This announcement also shows how the partnership, which launched on January 1st, 2014, is increasing the network of each carrier. Virgin Atlantic will have access to Delta’s Atlanta hub, the busiest airport in the world, for the first time, providing expansive and unprecedented access for Virgin Atlantic customers to connect to points throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.  The airline will now be able to offer more than 100 additional international and domestic connections to its customers. This brings the total number of connections available through the partnership to more than 200.

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Delta to take over London-Los Angeles flight from Virgin Atlantic

Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic will start flying their own planes on routes previously operated by the other.

Beginning Oct. 26, Delta will operate one of Virgin’s two routes between London Heathrow and Los Angeles, the Atlanta-based airlines first nonstop between the two cities.

Delta will operate a B767-300 ER plane for the flight. Virgin Atlantic will continue to operate two daily services to Los Angeles until that date.

Both airlines have had a partnership since January 2014, aimed at increasing to network of each carrier.

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Virgin Atlantic might bet big with bigger Boeing 787

Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. might decide to add some stretched-out Boeing Co. 787-10 models to its fleet.

Branson told Bloomberg that "it would make a lot of sense for us" to fly the bigger (323 seats to the 787-9's 280 seats) airplane, and the English airline probably would place new orders for the 787-10 and wouldn't convert any of its existing 16 orders for the 787-9 airplane into 787-10 orders.

Boeing (NYSE: BA) started to offer the 787-10 in 2013, and deliveries are supposed to begin in 2018.

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Virgin not sure it will ever fly Airbus 380s

British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Airways still isn't sure whether it will ever fly the world's largest passenger plane as it prepares for delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

''We have options for six A380s,'' from Airbus, Virgin Atlantic chief executive Craig Kreeger said. ''We have deferred those a number of times and we haven't yet decided what we will do when time comes for a terminate-the-batch decision.''

Virgin last deferred options for the superjumbo in July, pushing potential delivery to 2018, after being among the first to order the double-decker plane from Airbus in 2000.

Virgin Group has majority control of the British airline and a 10 per cent stake in Virgin Australia.

Virgin Atlantic is expecting delivery of its first 787 from Boeing in September, and plans to welcome passengers aboard starting in November.

The British airline's hesitance mirrors reluctance by other carriers that have deferred or reduced orders for the A380, which is marketed as easily accommodating 525 people. Air France-KLM, Europe's largest airline, may drop the final two of 12 planes ordered, and Lufthansa last year cancelled orders for three.

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