Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow) is set to phase out its domestic subsidiary, Little Red, just 18 months after it was launched. Quoting unnamed sources close to the airline's operations, The Sunday Times says the decision to wind-up Little Red's operations came after the carrier failed to garner enough market share with some flights operating with only a one-third occupancy rate. Virgin Atlantic is using four A320-200s wet-leased from Aer Lingus (EI, Dublin International) for its Little Red operation.

Launched in 2013, Little Red began with flights from London Heathrow to Manchester International, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen Dyce using slots British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) had relinquished in return for European Commission approval of its takover of bmi british midland (Nottingham East Midlands).

The news comes just a week after Virgin announced it would be terminating routes to Cape Town International, Mumbai International, Vancouver International, and Tokyo Narita as it moves to more closely align its network to that of 49% shareholder, Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson).