Virgin Atlantic accelerates A340 phase-out due to COVID-19

Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow) ended A340-600 operations on March 8, 2020, as the quadjets have proven surplus to demand during the current COVID-19-induced slump. Flightradar24 ADS-B data indicates that G-VFIT (msn 753) operated its last revenue flight on March 8 as VS412 from Lagos to London Heathrow and was ferried to London Gatwick the day after. G-VWIN (msn 756) departed from Bridgetown on March 7 as VS58 and landed at Gatwick the next morning. Both aircraft have remained parked at the airport since March 8-9. The airline did not respond to ch-aviation’s request for comment regarding the permanence of their grounding.