Virgin Australia is quite interesting. They used to fly much larger aircraft to much farther destinations, but did a big overhaul /restructuring and now focus on single-aisle aircraft. It's always funny seeing a small boeing parked at T3 in Haneda amongst the larger aircraft 🤣
Virgin Australia started as Virgin Blue the LCC for the first 10 years of their history, the original owners of Virgin Blue (Virgin Group and Toll) sold down their stakes to other airlines including Singapore Airlines and Etihad, which restructured the carrier into Virgin Australia 1.0 the "Full Service" carrier. Virgin Australia during their "Full Service" carrier years had Long Haul flights (in partnership with Delta Air Lines, Etihad and Hainan Airlines) and provided snacks/meals on Domestic services prior to the Covid shutdowns. Unfortunately the dysfunctional structure in the boardroom along with a combination of poor decisions from the prior CEOs during that period led to them losing money almost every financial year except for the one year their rival Qantas had ongoing industrial issues. They filed Bankruptcy (Voluntary Administration in Australia) during the 2020 Covid shutdowns, and subsequently restructured with new owners which simplified the fleet and the owners rolled back service to a Low Cost Carrier structure for Economy passengers, only retaining the J recliners/service (Domestic First in USA) on their Domestic and Short Haul International services.
Great review Andrew, love your videos, keep up the great work! Looks like a very well presented plane despite the long route. Hope you enjoyed Australia, you need to come to Melbourne next!
I'm a Cairns resident, and it is pronounced .... 'Canz' .. liked the vid though and you have just convinced me to take the trip to Tokyo !! Didn't get how much luggage you allowed, but ill soon find out ..
Nice flight, the views of the sea are great, and what a great trip you were able to do. Regarding the use of "simple" planes for long trips, here SKY has the A321 Neo (the same ones from my trips or flights) doing Santiago - Miami, although the seats do have low-cost space hahaha, I think what Virgin proposes It is very successful on this flight with an improved cabin. Greetings and blessings!
I didn't realize how far Santiago-Miami is! Farther than this flight! JetStar also has the low-cost space. I dont know if I can do for such a long flight! I agree, I think Virgin is on the right track with this product. Have a great week, Ariel!
@@theglobalpeasant Yes, Virgin is excellent. Reviewing, SKY does it with a scale, it is Santiago - Lima - Miami, with these aircrafts. Have a nice week :)
wow, just found your channel, ive been wanting to find a flight reviwe for this as it is an interesting flight, because really, its more so meant to hold the haneda spot so they dont loose it. hopefully VA get some wide bodies in the future. i would call virgin aus a low cost airline as they used to be full service but downsized during covid. they seem to be making their way up the ranks now though.
Looking deeper, I don't see any wide-bodies on the horizon for VA. It looks like they favour the connection in Cairns. I imagine saving that slot in HND is part of it too! But I'll take it as it saves me a trip to NRT!
Some video discrepancies, VH-8IC was Virgins second MAX 8 Aircraft so depending when you filmed they would've had at least 2, currently they have 5 delivered. Also the IFE system does have a moving map its just in a strange location to get to. Overall a pretty good review really enjoyed watching
Glad you enjoyed it. Ya at time of editing, VA only listed a fleet of 1 on their website (still to this day). Map must be tucked away pretty good. Would be better placed to where the Barbie movie was 🤣
@@theglobalpeasant Classic VA always slow to update. I have seen all 5 Max's personally you can check on flight radar VH-8IA,8IB,8IC,8ID and 8IF and they'll all come up. I've confirmed the moving map is in the first screen you go to when connecting to it, instead of going to the movies, scroll all the way to the bottom and then it'll be on the left if you ever fly again and hasn't changed by then :)
Flying into Haneda is a huge plus it's way closer to tokyo and the shinkansen if you're moving on elsewhere. Naritas good but it's an hour and a bit to tokyo
Was on this a year ago. Second worst flight other than sitting at the bottom of a A380. Worst seat ever, worst aircrew, I was on an international leg and it had food included but they lost my info, were very rude and asked me to double pay or starve. I chose the latter. Instant coffee yuck! A year earlier I flew Jetstar Narita - Cairns and the Dreamliner is so much nicer and the food was good and it was more quiet. At least Narita has direct to city connections.
No hate but just a heads up us aussies pronounce cairns like cans and we also pronounce Brisbane like Bris-bin anyways great video hope you have a fun time on your other adventures
Worst flight of my life (300+ flights) extremely uncomfortable seats, overly cold AC, deplorable food for an international flight, miserable cabin crew, I could go on.
Good perspective! At the end of the day it comes down to the almighty dollar...in this case VA won out. The Max with its increased range is used for many longer flights and is designed for these longer flights in mind. What airlines do with the interior is up to them.
Butchering Australian city names is part of the job >.< Airport should be relocated to Edmonton, so it's easier to pronounce! Flight wasn't too bad. Price was considerably cheaper compared to the next lowest fare.
Hehe thanks for the heads up! You probably heard that in an instant! I totally get it, as I always hear "Toron-To" vs the "Totonno" pronunciation. It's funny how cities have nuances in their pronunciations.
Virgin Australia is quite interesting. They used to fly much larger aircraft to much farther destinations, but did a big overhaul /restructuring and now focus on single-aisle aircraft.
It's always funny seeing a small boeing parked at T3 in Haneda amongst the larger aircraft 🤣
Virgin Australia started as Virgin Blue the LCC for the first 10 years of their history, the original owners of Virgin Blue (Virgin Group and Toll) sold down their stakes to other airlines including Singapore Airlines and Etihad, which restructured the carrier into Virgin Australia 1.0 the "Full Service" carrier.
Virgin Australia during their "Full Service" carrier years had Long Haul flights (in partnership with Delta Air Lines, Etihad and Hainan Airlines) and provided snacks/meals on Domestic services prior to the Covid shutdowns. Unfortunately the dysfunctional structure in the boardroom along with a combination of poor decisions from the prior CEOs during that period led to them losing money almost every financial year except for the one year their rival Qantas had ongoing industrial issues.
They filed Bankruptcy (Voluntary Administration in Australia) during the 2020 Covid shutdowns, and subsequently restructured with new owners which simplified the fleet and the owners rolled back service to a Low Cost Carrier structure for Economy passengers, only retaining the J recliners/service (Domestic First in USA) on their Domestic and Short Haul International services.
Great review Andrew, love your videos, keep up the great work! Looks like a very well presented plane despite the long route. Hope you enjoyed Australia, you need to come to Melbourne next!
Thanks Steven, glad you enjoy them. Melbourne is definitely on my list...just couldn't squeeze it in this time!
I'm a Cairns resident, and it is pronounced .... 'Canz' .. liked the vid though and you have just convinced me to take the trip to Tokyo !! Didn't get how much luggage you allowed, but ill soon find out ..
I think it was one bag. each booking class has different allowances, so it's best to check with the airline's website.
Nice flight, the views of the sea are great, and what a great trip you were able to do. Regarding the use of "simple" planes for long trips, here SKY has the A321 Neo (the same ones from my trips or flights) doing Santiago - Miami, although the seats do have low-cost space hahaha, I think what Virgin proposes It is very successful on this flight with an improved cabin. Greetings and blessings!
I didn't realize how far Santiago-Miami is! Farther than this flight! JetStar also has the low-cost space. I dont know if I can do for such a long flight! I agree, I think Virgin is on the right track with this product. Have a great week, Ariel!
@@theglobalpeasant Yes, Virgin is excellent. Reviewing, SKY does it with a scale, it is Santiago - Lima - Miami, with these aircrafts. Have a nice week :)
Great trip report, just found your channel!!! So underrated!!!
Welcome! Glad you enjoy it!
wow, just found your channel, ive been wanting to find a flight reviwe for this as it is an interesting flight, because really, its more so meant to hold the haneda spot so they dont loose it. hopefully VA get some wide bodies in the future. i would call virgin aus a low cost airline as they used to be full service but downsized during covid. they seem to be making their way up the ranks now though.
Looking deeper, I don't see any wide-bodies on the horizon for VA. It looks like they favour the connection in Cairns. I imagine saving that slot in HND is part of it too! But I'll take it as it saves me a trip to NRT!
Some video discrepancies, VH-8IC was Virgins second MAX 8 Aircraft so depending when you filmed they would've had at least 2, currently they have 5 delivered. Also the IFE system does have a moving map its just in a strange location to get to. Overall a pretty good review really enjoyed watching
Glad you enjoyed it. Ya at time of editing, VA only listed a fleet of 1 on their website (still to this day).
Map must be tucked away pretty good. Would be better placed to where the Barbie movie was 🤣
@@theglobalpeasant Classic VA always slow to update. I have seen all 5 Max's personally you can check on flight radar VH-8IA,8IB,8IC,8ID and 8IF and they'll all come up.
I've confirmed the moving map is in the first screen you go to when connecting to it, instead of going to the movies, scroll all the way to the bottom and then it'll be on the left if you ever fly again and hasn't changed by then :)
Great review and commentary. I do trip reports myself too mainly Air New Zealand flights
Nice. New Zealand-great place!
your phone gps still function when in flight mode so google maps can show your location based from gps location
Ahh good to know!
Flying into Haneda is a huge plus it's way closer to tokyo and the shinkansen if you're moving on elsewhere. Naritas good but it's an hour and a bit to tokyo
Totally agree. My choice when flying to/from Tokyo!
great video. It how was the customer service and seat comfort from one to ten?
Was on this a year ago. Second worst flight other than sitting at the bottom of a A380. Worst seat ever, worst aircrew, I was on an international leg and it had food included but they lost my info, were very rude and asked me to double pay or starve. I chose the latter. Instant coffee yuck! A year earlier I flew Jetstar Narita - Cairns and the Dreamliner is so much nicer and the food was good and it was more quiet. At least Narita has direct to city connections.
No hate but just a heads up us aussies pronounce cairns like cans and we also pronounce Brisbane like Bris-bin anyways great video hope you have a fun time on your other adventures
No worries dude. I knew I was butchering it to some degree. Sometimes the small nuances are difficult to pick up!
@@theglobalpeasant tanks I know our cities are spelt weirdly to foreigners glad you came!
thanks for this video. I was considering flying to haneda using Virgin but I think its service is too basic for a long haul trip.
Completely understand. You'll definitely find more comfort with a mainline carrier.
do you remember who the first officer was, because my dad is a pilot who flies on that route.
oh, I wouldn't remember the names unfortunately. But's that's a sweet gig of your old man!
They're only flying that route to keep the slot at Haneda.
That's what I've been told. Good slot to keep. Still a viable option to reach Australia.
Were they strict with the checked baggage and carry on baggage?
Worst flight of my life (300+ flights) extremely uncomfortable seats, overly cold AC, deplorable food for an international flight, miserable cabin crew, I could go on.
Sad to hear such a poor flight. Such a contrast to my experience.
I second this! Plus Haneda does not even have a direct train into the city. Seats were so bad that they have now stopped this leg.
@@LawpickingLocksmith makes sense, it was absolutely terrible.
There probably isnt room in the dunny for a certain club (hehe hehe) application.
Giggity!
If it were me I would fly to Brisbane or Sydney to be on a wide body and not this aircraft that really is designed for short haul only.
Good perspective! At the end of the day it comes down to the almighty dollar...in this case VA won out.
The Max with its increased range is used for many longer flights and is designed for these longer flights in mind.
What airlines do with the interior is up to them.
............who taught you to pronounce Cairns and Brisbane like that :P good report but you'd never catch me dead on that flight.
Butchering Australian city names is part of the job >.< Airport should be relocated to Edmonton, so it's easier to pronounce! Flight wasn't too bad. Price was considerably cheaper compared to the next lowest fare.
Business Class does not have a lounge either way - CNS Haneda RETURN. Shame!
Brisbane is pronounced ‘Brizbin’ 😊
Hehe thanks for the heads up! You probably heard that in an instant! I totally get it, as I always hear "Toron-To" vs the "Totonno" pronunciation.
It's funny how cities have nuances in their pronunciations.