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SCMP Reporter

GIMMICKS and goodies galore will be coming passengers' way as competition hots up on the lucrative Hong Kong-London direct route next month.

  Virgin Atlantic Airways, which begins daily direct services to the territory on February 22, has announced that it will be adding a flying tailoring service to its long list of wild and wacky in-flight extras.

  Tailors will be available on Virgin's inaugural flight to measure passengers en route and fax their sizes via satellite to Hong Kong. Chairman Richard Branson will be one measurer-upper.

  Custom-made clothes will be waiting when travellers step off the plane.

  Mr Branson has made the tiny carrier famous on transatlantic routes by offering such perks as in-flight massages and electronic video games.

  ''It's a little bit of an experiment, but we think it's going to work,'' he said of the tailoring idea. ''You've got to always be one step ahead.''   If the experiment is a success, Virgin is looking to make this a regular feature.

  Virgin says it has other special launch promotions up its sleeve, but is keeping them there until closer to its launch date for fear of tipping off the opposition.

  British Airways, one of Virgin's two direct service rivals on the Hong Kong-London route, is to upgrade its First Class passenger service to and from the territory from February 1.

   BA insists it would have done this irrespective of the Virgin launch.

  It will be extending its new sleeper service to Hong Kong in what it is billing as a ''breakthrough in comfort'', as well as adding Cantonese and Mandarin films to its choice of in-flight entertainment.

  Goodnight cookies and mugs of hot chocolate will be available after dinner on demand, and announcements will be kept to a minimum to avoid disturbing passengers' rest.

  First Class passengers will then be able to slip into snug sleeper suits and settle down on steeply reclining sleeper seats supplied with comfy duvets, jumbo pillows and crisp cotton sheets, BA's promotional material says.

  They can choose to snooze through the main hot breakfast and will be woken 45 minutes before landing with ''piping hot coffee and savouries'', it goes on to say.

  BA's sleeper service was first introduced on routes from London to India, Africa, North America and the Middle East in April last year.

  ''It proved so popular on these shorter haul routes that we have subsequently decided to provide this renowned service on the Hong Kong-London route,'' said Freddy Li, BA's Hong Kong manager.

  Cathay Pacific, which until now has enjoyed a duopoly with BA on direct Hong Kong-London services, has chosen not to enter the fight and offer any counter-promotions.

  ''There's no point in locking horns with them,'' said Cathay spokesman Phil Burford.

  ''There is bound to be a flurry of passengers wanting to try out Virgin to start with, but once things settle down we think we will continue to do well.''   SG Warburg (Far East) research analyst Wong Kam-ming warned that Virgin's launch would have an impact on Cathay.

  ''The London route is the company's most profitable route in Europe and probably one of its top three most profitable routes in the world,'' he said.

  ''While it is questionable as to whether Virgin can make the new service commercially viable, it is conceivable that Cathay's load factor on the London route will be cut by 10 per cent or more.

  ''Given that the break-even load factor for non-stop flights is around 60 to 65 per cent, the impact of Virgin's competition on Cathay is unlikely to be negligible.

  ''The best Cathay can hope for is that Virgin will not be able to profit from the new route after a trial period, resulting in either a withdrawal of the service or a significant revision of the fares to levels comparable with those of Cathay.'' 



Virgin gives flying suit new meaning in launch gimmick