Virgin Atlantic flights in the UK have not been adopted by the public.
The service, called “Little Red”, began only in April, but sales have been low, despite the charges being cheaper than the same journey on Virgin Trains.
The flights link Heathrow with Manchester, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
Analysts believe the planes are operating on average well below half full. Virgin estimated that between 250,000 and 300,000 passengers had used the service, but the total number of seats available was likely to be in the region of 800,000.
Virgin remains optimistic and said that customers take time to become fully aware of new routes.
Fares for the rest of October currently start at £68 return for Heathrow-Aberdeen, and £53 return for Heathrow-Edinburgh, and Heathrow-Manchester.
To launch the service, Sir Richard Branson donned a kilt which later he raised to reveal his white underwear branded with the slogan “stiff competition” to underscore his hope of pushing prices down.
