NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW 4


Virgin boss hails A350 cabin and ‘return to growth’


Ian Taylor ian.taylor@travelweekly.co.uk


Virgin Atlantic unveiled its new Airbus A350 cabin this week, with chief executive Shai Weiss ailing a reurn o profiable growth”.


However, Weiss conceded the carrier would report a loss for


2018 in results due out after Travel Weekly went to press. He said: “We’ll announce an improvement. Our results are better than expected and our revenue grew $150 million year on year.”


He added: “There is weakness in the UK market and we attribute that to uncertainty.” Virgin Atlantic reported a


£28 million pre-tax loss for 2017. The carrier will deploy the first


of 12 A350s on Heathrow-New ork flights this summer, with three more due for delivery this year. The cabin features a new Upper Class and lounge area, the Loft, which replaces the bar on existing aircraft. Weiss revealed the cabin after new part-owned subsidiary Flybe suffered three days of disruption last week. The regional carrier cancelled up to 30 services in


Virgin’s new Loft lounge in Upper Class on A350s


midweek after announcing a halt to jet flights from Exeter, Cardiff, Doncaster and Norwich. It insisted the cancellations were


not linked to the announcement, instead blaming “a combination of seasonality, pilots’ end-of-year leave, Easter holidays, base restructuring and a shortage of pilots across the industry”. Weiss pointed out: “We own Flybe with our consortium


partners, but we don’t control it. We don’t have clearance yet.” Virgin Atlantic acquired Flybe in


March with Stobart Group and US investor Cyrus Capital. Weiss confirmed Flybe would


be rebranded “Virgin something” and said: “The last thing we want is to just put our livery on a plane; it has to come with a commitment


to service.” › Talk Back, page 17


5 STORIES HOT


5 Agents face drone delay payouts Benjamin Coren


benjamin.coren@ travelweekly.co.uk


Two agents face paying out thousands of pounds to customers affected by Gatwick’s closure by a drone in December.


Glen Travel owner Alan Glen


and Abbot Travel director John Lombari had customers booked to fly before Christmas when more than a thousand Gatwick flights were cancelled. Both agents sold the customers


Atol-protected holidays and sought to recoup their clients’ money through their travel disruption insurance (TDI). Glen made a £10,000 claim under his TDI policy after his customer’s holiday to Barbados was delayed. But his insurer told him the policy, which does cover fallouts from hurricanes or acts of terrorism, did not cover the impact of a drone halting flights. Glen said he had been threatened


with legal action by the customer if he does not provide compensation. Lombari had three customers


6travelweekly.co.uk11 April 2019


“Either the airline or the insurance should pay out, not us”


affected. He said: “The trip was booked with our own Atol from Advantage. We insisted they take personal insurance as well, so they were 100% protected.” He said: “Either the airline or the


insurance should pay out, not us.” Glen said: “Insurance companies


always play the ‘force majeure’ card to avoid paying out. When I


submitted the claim, I was told it was rejected on the grounds that government action closed the airport, in that the CAA ordered the grounding of flights until the risk could be assessed.” He added: “I’m not aware of


any insurers paying out for this incident.” A spokesman for the British


Insurance Brokers’ Association said: “All policies are different and it depends on the cover purchased. “It is important for the insured


to be aware of the policy cover and any possible limitations.”


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