Mothballed Virgin Planes Back on Schedule for Us

Virgin Atlantic yesterday began an aggressive campaign to win customers from cash-strapped US airlines, with a radical expansion of its transatlantic schedule including extra flights to Boston, Washington and New York.

The carrier is retrieving several mothballed aircraft from storage in the Mojave desert to run the extra services, though it admitted that a war in the Middle East would make it "re-evaluate" the plans.

From October 28, the airline will add an extra daily flight to its most popular route between Heathrow and New York's JFK airport.

There will also be two more flights a week to New York's Newark airport next year, taking Virgin's schedule between London and New York to five daily services - the level before September 11 last year.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesman said: "This shows the recovery is beginning to gain momentum. We want a bigger share of what will be a smaller market overall."

Virgin is doubling its service between London and Washington to two daily flights and adding five flights a week next summer from Gatwick to Boston. It is also increasing its frequency to Lagos, Cape Town and the Caribbean.

"We're in a better position than our rivals to pick up market share," said the spokesman. "If there was another Gulf War, we'd clearly have to re-evaluate."

Four airlines are allowed to operate flights from Heathrow to JFK - Virgin, British Airways, United Airlines and American Airlines.

United is in serious financial trouble and is widely expected to file for bankruptcy shortly. US Airways, which flies from Gatwick to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Charlotte, has already sought protection from its creditors.

Although load factors on transatlantic flights are generally back to normal, prices are much lower than they were before the terrorist crisis. Airlines have seen their share prices plummet over the last month amid concern that the Gulf War will cause an economic crisis, a downturn in world travel and higher fuel prices.

British Airways operates nine daily flights to New York, having restored its schedule in March to pre-September 11 levels. The national flag carrier is cutting back in other areas - last week, it announced it was ceasing services to Charlotte, North Carolina.