Virgin cuts service

Virgin Atlantic Air is grounding five aircraft, reducing staff by 1,200 and halting service to Toronto and Chicago as of mid-October.

The airline said it is making the cuts because there is too much capacity on the North Atlantic route and because of expected impact on demand after last week’s terrorist attacks in the United States.

Virgin Atlantic launched its service to Toronto on June 12. It began service to Chicago last year. Service to both destinations will stop completely in mid-October.
The airline said that while capacity will be reduced on the North Atlantic out of London, capacity on routes from London to the Far East and South Africa will be increased.

Virgin Atlantic had been running daily srevice to Toronto from London’s Gatwick Airport since it began its service in June, but passenger loads were not as high it had hoped.