Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

“Virgin Atlantic to delay Accra launch and its return to Tel Aviv” (The Times)

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

The Times had an article yesterday (paywall) on the problems facing both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic as they struggle with unreliable Rolls-Royce engines on their Boeing 787 fleets.

We covered the problems at British Airways earlier this week.

Kuwait and Bahrain flights will be cancelled from April, potentially permanently, whilst American Airlines is taking over BA’s Dallas-Fort Worth service and one of the two daily Miami flights. We have already seen the launch of Kuala Lumpur postponed by six months.

Trent 1000 engine

Virgin Atlantic has been very quiet about the state of its own Boeing 787 fleet.

However, according to The Times, the airline is planning to:

  • delay the launch of flights to Accra in Ghana, due to start on 1st May
  • delay the return to Tel Aviv, which is currently due on 30th March

The implication in The Times is that this will not be enough and that other services will also be chopped.

The 17-strong Boeing 787 fleet at Virgin Atlantic is reportedly one aircraft down, presumably due to parts being used to keep other aircraft flying, and this is expected to increase to two next year.

There is no quick fix to the issue, with Rolls-Royce struggling to obtain spare engine parts from its suppliers.

According to The Times, airlines have been able to cover Boeing 787 routes with other aircraft but it is not sustainable. The extra flying hours means that those aircraft now need to go for maintenance earlier than planned, reducing fleets further.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 50,000 Virgin Points.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points. 

Category

Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (49)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Greenpen says:
    10 Nov10 November 08:39

    So why is there this shortage of spare parts? If of course, that’s the real problem. I guess turbine parts are what I would term specialist, not easily banged off by any metal bashing factory, so surely there would be a long term supply contingency.

    Or is it that this type of engine is just rubbish?

    • TooPoorToBeHere says:
      10 Nov10 November 09:10

      It turns out that when you tell the supply chain for some of the most capital-intensive, large, and complex machinery in the world that it’s to shut down for an indefinite period with little government support, and then change your mind and tell it you want as much as it can deliver as fast as possible, that there are consequences.

      Divide the blame between MBAs who don’t respect engineers, and covid hysterics, as best suits your personal opinion.

      I’ve read elsewhere that some aspects of airliner parts supply are now impacted by increased demand for military items as well.

      • Tariq says:
        10 Nov10 November 10:42

        1000%

        Despite the lack of necessity for it, the global shutdown has had and will have for many years to come, substantial consequences. The effect of rebound emissions on climate change just one example which is very evident in recent times.

      • George says:
        10 Nov10 November 14:11

        My previous company also still blamed Covid related supply chain delays even though it was a lack of investment that caused their issues.

        Easy excuse really

    • Rhys says:
      10 Nov10 November 10:04

      Modern jet engines use cutting edge materials in order to run hotter and at high pressures than ever before, so it’s not just a matter of getting your neighbourhood ironmongers to knock something up! That’s great when you understand the material, but no amount of lab testing will replace seeing how these materials cope with real-world usage…which is where we are seeing the isssues.

    • Roy says:
      10 Nov10 November 16:15

      Is it still the case that turbine blades were wearing out much quicker than anticipated on at least some variants of the Trent 1000? Or has that been resolved?

  • Catalan says:
    10 Nov10 November 09:35

    BA have already decided that the next batch of 781 deliveries will be engined by GE. A significant departure from their longstanding relationship with Rolls Royce.

    • John says:
      10 Nov10 November 10:41

      Indeed. And BA have refused to exercise the additional 18 A350-1000 options they have because Rolls are the only engine provider.

  • Lady London says:
    10 Nov10 November 10:53

    Wasn’t it the Rolls Royce enginw problems that finally finished Norwegian ? That was some years ago. Why are there still problems ?

    • Thaliasilje says:
      10 Nov10 November 10:58

      Norwegian is not “finished”…

      • Rob says:
        10 Nov10 November 11:09

        Depends if you mean ‘taken over by its banks, shareholders wiped out, 787 aircraft returned to lessors, airline becomes a tiny regional operator of short haul flights’ as ‘finished’.

        • Thaliasilje says:
          10 Nov10 November 12:36

          That sounds more like SAS.

          Norwegian is great option and MUCH needed competition in the Nordics plus Europe.

          Finished in transatlantic travel? Yes.

    • @mkcol says:
      10 Nov10 November 12:29

      New & different problems, which have only come to light during real life use.

  • Lev441 says:
    10 Nov10 November 12:39

    I did wonder why tel Aviv flights were not offered on the Virgin website last night. Made a few bookings just before the changes to flying club. Assume I’ll be rebooked on to El Al now?

    • AL says:
      10 Nov10 November 15:51

      Most likely, yes. If this continues on in to the new year, when EasyJet restarts services, VS might use their relationship there to start rebooking on their fleet.

  • jjoohhnn says:
    11 Nov11 November 10:05

    Maybe this will direct Virgin that they should ditch their 787’s.

  • ADS says:
    11 Nov11 November 10:38

    when was the last time Virgin announced a new route …
    and it wasn’t delayed?!

  • Opus says:
    11 Nov11 November 11:03

    I will be surprised if RR gets BA’s business in the near future. BA is rarely this vocal about supplier failures, case in point, Boeing.

    That means more business for Boeing and GE and the 787 in the near future

    • Rhys says:
      11 Nov11 November 11:17

      BA have already committed to 6 GE-powered 787-10s. There would be no point doing that unless more orders were forthcoming and RR had been ruled out.

  • Ben says:
    11 Nov11 November 13:49

    What a great opportunity for Virgin to update the cabins while aircraft are grounded

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

Get 80,000 bonus points (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 of dining credit with The Platinum Card (Offer ends 27th May)

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get up to 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? GET THE ONLY FREE SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARD WHICH CAN EARN AVIOS

Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold (ends 27th May)

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!