Editing Virgin Atlantic (section)

===Little Red===
{{Further|Virgin Atlantic Little Red}}
[[File:Virgin Atlantic Airbus A320-214; EI-EZW@LHR;13.05.2013 708fk (8738115862).jpg|thumb|Virgin Atlantic [[Airbus A320-200]] ''Little Red'' operated by Aer Lingus]]
[[British Midland International]] provided domestic and European feeder traffic into Heathrow Airport in partnership with Virgin<ref>{{cite news |title=Virgin set to boost short-haul ambitions |author=Mark Odell |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/38e70fb8-31a3-11e2-92f0-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2aSVMFD9U |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210221227/https://www.ft.com/content/38e70fb8-31a3-11e2-92f0-00144feabdc0#axzz2aSVMFD9U |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=Financial Times |date=19 November 2012 |access-date=29 July 2013 }}</ref> until it was purchased by British Airways' parent company [[International Airlines Group]] in 2011. The [[Lufthansa]]-owned airline had faced heavy annual losses of more than £100 million. Under the terms of the takeover, IAG had to relinquish some former BMI domestic slots at Heathrow. Virgin Atlantic purchased enough slots in 2012 to enable it to launch a domestic service on 31 March 2013, under the Little Red brand, operating a total of 12 daily services from London to [[Aberdeen Airport|Aberdeen]] (three), [[Edinburgh Airport|Edinburgh]] (six), and Manchester (three).<ref name="Domestic">{{cite news |title=Virgin Atlantic unveils UK airline service |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21625591 |newspaper=BBC News Online |date=1 March 2013 |access-date=1 March 2013}}</ref> The airline [[Aircraft lease|wet-leased]] four Airbus [[Airbus A320-200]]s from [[Aer Lingus]], operating with Virgin Atlantic livery, under a three-year contract.<ref name="Lingus">{{cite news |title=Virgin Atlantic to wet-lease A320s from Aer Lingus |author=David Kaminski-Morrow |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/virgin-atlantic-to-wet-lease-a320s-from-aer-lingus-379994/ |work=Flightglobal |location=London |date=10 December 2012 |access-date=14 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Aer Lingus to operate third UK route for Virgin |author=Ciara Kenny |url= https://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/transport-and-tourism/aer-lingus-to-operate-third-uk-route-for-virgin-1.1352896 |newspaper=Irish Times |location=Dublin |date=8 April 2013 |access-date=3 August 2013}}</ref>

In September 2014, it was reported that Virgin Atlantic was considering closing its domestic brand after suffering heavy losses,<ref name="Little Red">{{cite news |title=Little Red could be thrown to the wolves and shut by ruthless Virgin |author=Andrew Clark |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/little-red-could-be-thrown-to-the-wolves-and-shut-by-ruthless-virgin-0lnggd9330j |newspaper=[[The Times]] |location=London |date=8 September 2014 |access-date=8 September 2014}}</ref> with [[Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom)|Civil Aviation Authority]] figures confirming an average seat occupancy level of just 37.6% in 2013.<ref name="telegraph_little_red" /> The 12 daily pairs of take-off and landing slots at Heathrow cannot be sold to be used for long-haul routes.<ref name="BMIslots">{{cite news |title=Virgin eyes BMI slots for launch of UK flights |url=http://www.airportwatch.org.uk/?p=1694/ |publisher=Airport Watch |location=London |date=8 April 2012 |access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>

On 6 October 2014, Virgin Atlantic confirmed that the Little Red service would cease; flights to Manchester ended on 28 March 2015 and flights to Edinburgh and Aberdeen ended on 26 September 2015.<ref>{{cite news |date=6 October 2014 |title=Virgin Atlantic cancels Little Red domestic flight service |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29504715 |newspaper=BBC News |access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>