https://www.businessinsider.com/virgin-atlantic-ends-london-austin-flights-route-tech-sector-texas-2023-10 Virgin Atlantic said on Friday that it would end its route between Austin and London in January. Virgin Atlantic cited "persistent softening in corporate demand, specifically the tech sector." The airline's route commenced in May 2022, fueled by major tech growth in the Texas city. Over the past decade, Austin's national reputation has become increasingly tied to the tech sector, with companies lured by its highly educated workforce and Texas-sized tax incentives. But in a major decision, Virgin Atlantic on Friday announced that it would end its nonstop route from Austin to London less than two years after first offering the flights. Virgin Atlantic said it would suspend services between Heathrow Airport in London and the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, a route that the airline commenced in May 2022 but now says will end on January 7 due to "persistent softening in corporate demand, specifically the tech sector." "We've adored flying our customers to Austin and experiencing this wonderful city of music and culture, but demand in the tech sector is not set to improve in the near term, with corporate demand at 70% of 2019 levels," Virgin Atlantic chief commercial officer Juha Järvinen said in a statement. "Therefore, sadly, we made the tough decision to withdraw services." Such a statement is a reflection of significant changes in Austin, which just two years ago had arguably the buzziest commercial real estate market in the United States. Earlier this month, The Washington Post detailed how the ongoing skyscraper boom in Austin is reshaping the city. The report also noted the looming issue of vacancies in the lion's share of the new commercial real estate projects under construction. Virgin Atlantic's change of heart would seemingly be in line with some of the economic forces that have shifted in Texas' capital city. When Virgin Atlantic launched its nonstop London route, it offered four flights from Austin each week. Austin airport officials, in a statement, thanked Virgin Atlantic and indicated that they hoped to see the airline return in the future. "AUS is grateful to the incredible Virgin Atlantic team for launching this ambitious route," the statement read. "We hope to welcome them back one day." Virgin Atlantic may be axing its London route from Austin, but British Airways remains, connecting the two cities with nonstop flights. With the Austin route coming to a close, Virgin Atlantic announced that it would beef up its service between London and Miami for the summer 2024 season, increasing the number of flights between the two cities from 11 to 14.
Does it say more about tech or airline industry? :-)
Fair point. Virgin Atlantic would be more exposed to rising fuel prices given this is a long haul flight; though they are expanding to Miami which would point to this is might be a city specific issue, and Austin is a large tech capital.
Virgin often has the cheapest tickets between UK and US so they need to have their planes full.
Was there really a tech boom in Austin? I think, as with most things in Austin, everything was over hyped. Central TX is pretty much of a wasteland Between Dallas and Houston I think Austin is more of a drive thru city.
There definitely was. Population grew 33% from 2010 to 2020, and as of 2022 Austin was the 10th largest city in the US (at ~1M) ahead of San Jose. Tech jobs account for ~16% of all jobs in Austin, and growth in tech jobs out paced most of the US (~34% vs ~15% from 2017-2022).
@bhb I doubt some of your figures. For example what do they consider a tech job? I read they were counting admin, sales, business roles as tech jobs. Is the payroll coming from a tech company? Then it's a tech job. Elon has even stated he is moving the engineering brain entirely to CA I have been here 3yrs from SFO. And let me tell you Austin is fools Gold.
Does this mean tech execs are moving back to SF?
No exec moved to Austin. It was unambitious fatigued struggling employees. Austin is where ambition goes to die
This is bad for us in Austin. I also think the airport is less busy these days compared to earlier.
I think Austin wanted to be a big player but came too late on the game and then the market slowed. Some of the tech places will remain but with return to office and Austin not being a big hub, I think this is one contributing reason.
Yeah RTO just wiped out the remote tech population who migrated there.
Austin was a small airport. Virgin Atlantic gonna stop to other tech hubs soon enough.
Have they considered people in Europe are heeding the travel advisories to Texas and don’t want to get shot?
I don't think there are travel advisories that are state specific. Austin is also very liberal (blue) unlike the rest of Texas.
Someone just got shot dead in Austin earlier this month. Two people injured from a shooting a couple days after that. Two people and a shooter dead in September. Two people dead and one injured in August. The travel advisory is about gun violence and Texas is the number one offender