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About LinkBacksHow do you make that one out?Originally Posted by gijoe
How do you make that one out?
apologies - from Heathrow - with a BMI link from Dub
One of those Iberia A319s they just picked up could easily do YHZ or YYT (Halifax or St. Johns) - that's what Air Canada uses for the summer Newfoundland-Heathrow route. A codeshare with AC would open up a lot of onward destinations ex Halifax.
Halifax Stanfield International Airport
Makes a lot more sense than Vlad trying to get rid of the Heathrow slots for a bag of magic beans and a picture of the woman he most adores Maragaret Hilda Thatcher.
Great analysis there. Really added a lot to the thread.
Thank you.
I presume, you were being sarcastic. However, much as your idea is as innovative in an attempt to improve connectivity. If the Heathrow slots are disposed of then we lose connectivity to the largest international hub. That to me is fundamental to our economic competitiveness.
But with Etihad and Emirates now running 2-3 700-300ER's daily from Dublin plus Aer Lingus with orders for 6 Airbus 350-900's there will be absolutely no need for 23 pairs of slots at Heathrow. Cork and Shannon should probably retain their slots but Dublin's could be halved in time no bother.
You weren't ridiculed, but a lot of relevant points were made to you, that you didn't want to hear. Now you're right that theoretically an A321 can fly transatlantic, its ETOPS approved (for the laymen on this thread, that means its certified to be able to fly on one engine for as long as it takes to reach a diversion airport, from anywhere on the North Atlantic), and its range is long enough to reach Eastern seaboard airports from Ireland. But that's the theory. There's a range of other issues, as follows:
1) Cargo. Aer Lingus Cargo puts a lot of stuff into the spare capacity on A330s when they're going transatlantic, which those aeroplanes swallow up with no trouble - you chuck in a bit more fuel, and off you go. On a fully-laden A321 with 180 passengers (most of whom will have more luggage with them going transatlantic), that's not gonna be an option.
2) Capacity. Its true that on many Aer Lingus transatlantic flights, there are fewer passengers than the capacity of an A321 - but equally during the tourist season, most of the A330s are full or close to full - particularly to JFK and Orlando. You'd be constantly having to juggle your aircraft and scheduling requirements, all of which requires spare capacity and costs money.
3) Fuel. This is really the critical issue. Yes you can fly the whole way in a 321, but it can get very marginal. The flight time, track miles, and fuel requirements each day are basically a moveable feast, with the route changing each day in accordance with the North Atlantic Track structure (whereby flights are routed to avoid headwinds where they're strongest, but which can lead to many many more track miles, depending on where those headwinds happen to be). Murphy's Law being what it is, the day you've to fly over Iceland to get to Chicago just happens to be the day you've got the most fat Americans loaded down with Newbridge Crystal on board, meaning that even with the tanks filled to the gills you end up stopping in Newfoundland for a top-up. Result - delays, inconvenience, missed connections, etc. The same issue applies with weather in the winter. The Eastern seaboard airports in particular often have snow-related delays, meaning that arriving aircraft need to hold before landing - now they have to carry "holding fuel" anyway, but this includes fuel to cover diverting to another airport - so before long passengers will find themselves disembarking many miles from where they were planning to go. And if you were operating on such fine margins, it wouldn't be long before your airline would get a reputation for delays, fuel stops, and diversions - and your competitors would be quick to seize on that in their marketing.
And lastly, there's comfort. As another poster said, even 757s are a nightmare on long trips, whereas on a proper wide-body you can walk around more easily, there's more legroom, etc etc, even in economy. And on a 7 hour flight, that stuff matters.
"Elite - a small superior group; esp one that has a power out of proportion to its size." (Oxford English Dictionary)
The majority cannot therefore be the elite.
Air Transat flies direct Dublin-Toronto with some flights stopping (either way) at Halifax, NS or Ottawa, Ont. but I don't know if they do it all year or just seasonal.
KLM flies Dublin-Toronto - you go Dublin-Amsterdam on Aer Lingus, then KLM 747 Amsterdam-Toronto. And apart from flying 'over home' and the hour time change in Europe, each way it is excellent service, and you book you and baggage through.
You can go Belfast-Toronto on Air Canada - fly BMI to Heathrow, then Air Canada to Toronto, booking you and baggage through.
You can go Belfast-Newark on Continental, then from Newark to Toronto., dunno if you can book through but probably.
Air Transat also fly to Western Canadian airports but you have to connect in UK - it is not a through booking and if your plane is delayed...and you have to handle your baggage. We've done this with Ryanair, but nowadays I shudder at the thought.
Passengers who land in Canada with Air Canada and need to go on there can connect to Air Canada Jazz, a short hop line, turbo-props, etc.
And also Westjet who fly coast to coast and connect to some airlines...
But other than those, no way of doing it.....?
"Elite - a small superior group; esp one that has a power out of proportion to its size." (Oxford English Dictionary)
The majority cannot therefore be the elite.
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